Electrochemical Properties of EDLC Electrodes Prepared by Acid and Heat Treatment of Commercial Activated Carbons

The commercial activated carbons are typically prepared by activation from coconut shell char or coal char containing lots of inorganic impurities. They also have pore structure and pore size distribution depending on nanostructure of precursor materials. In this study, two types of commercial activated carbons were applied for EDLC electrode by removing impurities with acid treatments, and controlling pore size distribution and contents of functional group with heat treatment. The effect of the surface functional groups on electrochemical performance of the activated carbon electrodes was investigated. The initial gravimetric and volumetric capacitance of coconut based activated carbon electrode which was acid treated by HNO3 and then heat treated at 800oC were 90 F/g and 42 F/cc respectively showing 94% of charge-discharge efficiency. Such a good electrochemical performance can be possibly applied to the medium capacitance of EDLC. Keywords : EDLC electrode, activated carbon, acid treatment, heat treatment, functional group, electrochemical properties