Morphological effect on the electrochemical behavior of electric double-layer capacitors

Abstract

Activated milled mesophase carbon fibers (AC-mMPCF, MP-series) show a higher specific capacitance in spite of a smaller specific surface area than those of powder-type activated carbons (AC-series). This phenomenon can be interpreted to mean that it is difficult to predict the capacitance of an electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) knowing just the surface area and the pore size. More information is needed about other inherent characteristics of the samples, for example, the equivalent series resistance (ESR), shape of the pores, etc. We investigate here other characteristics of the samples. Consequently, it was deduced that the MP-series of EDLCs have a slit pore shape, which affects the accessibility of the electrolyte ion onto the electrode surface. Moreover, the MP-series of materials have suitable ESR values, and these material properties themselves should be considered as factors that affects the deterioration of the specific capacitance of EDLCs.