Influence of the structure of carbon onions on their electrochemical performance in supercapacitor electrodes.

Journal Article · · Carbon

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2011.12.022· OSTI ID:1065903

McDonough, J.; Frolov, A. I.; Presser, V.; Niu, J.; Miller, Christopher H.; Ubieto, Teresa; Fedorov, M.V.; Gogotsi, Y.

Onion-like carbon (OLC), also known as carbon onions, is an attractive material for electrical energy storage in regards to high rate, high power applications. We report the most up to date, systematic, and extensive study of the electrochemical behavior of carbon onions in aqueous (1 M sulfuric acid, H₂SO₄) and organic (1 M tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate, TEA-BF4, and 1 M tetrabutylammonium tetrafluoroborate, TBA-BF₄, in acetonitrile) electrolytes. The physical and electrical properties of OLC are studied as a function of the synthesis temperature and compared with diamond soot, carbon black, and activated carbon. To obtain a molecular scale picture of the processes at the OLC-electrolyte interface, we supplement the experimental work with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of carbon onions in organic electrolytes. The capacitive performance of OLC exceeds other carbon materials at high charge/discharge rates (up to 50 V s⁻¹; time constant τ ~ 10 ms). OLC produced from detonation soot has a performance similar to that of OLC from highly purified nanodiamond. While OLC produced at 1500 °C has the largest specific surface area, OLC produced at 1800 °C has the highest conductivity and shows the best capacitive performance at high rates.

• Research Organization: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC); Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures and Transport Center (FIRST)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE SC Office of Basic Energy Sciences (SC-22)
• OSTI ID: 1065903
• Journal Information: Carbon, Journal Name: Carbon Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 50; ISSN 0008-6223
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
catalysis (heterogeneous)
charge transport
electrodes - solar
energy storage (including batteries and capacitors)
hydrogen and fuel cells
materials and chemistry by design
mechanical behavior
solar (fuels)
synthesis (novel materials)