• Carbon letters
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• v.22
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• pp.70-80
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• 2017

Activated carbons (ACs) have been used as electrode materials of electric double-layer capacitors (EDLC) due to their high specific surface areas (SSA), stability, and ecological advantages. In order to make high-energy-density ACs for EDLC, petroleum pitch (PP) pre-carbonized at $500-1000^{\circ}C$ in $N_2$ gas for 1 h was used as the electrode material of the EDLC after KOH activation. As the pre-carbonization temperature increased, the SSA, pore volume and gravimetric capacitance tended to decrease, but the crystallinity and electrode density tended to increase, showing a maximum volumetric capacitance at a medium carbonization temperature. Therefore, it was possible to control the crystalline structure, SSA, and pore structure of AC by changing the pre-carbonization temperature. Because the electrode density increased with increasing of the pre-carbonization temperature, the highest volumetric capacitance of 28.4 F/cc was obtained from the PP pre-carbonized at $700^{\circ}C$, exhibiting a value over 150% of that of a commercial AC (MSP-20) for EDLC. Electrochemical activation was observed from the electrodes of PP as they were pre-carbonized at high temperatures above $700^{\circ}C$ and then activated by KOH. This process was found to have a significant effect on the specific capacitance and it was demonstrated that the higher charging voltage of EDLC was, the greater the electrochemical activation effect was.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.112-116
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• 2018

Electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs) are promising candidates for energy storage devices in electronic applications. An EDLC yields high power density but has low specific capacitance. Carbon material is used in EDLCs owing to its large specific surface area, large pore volume, and good mechanical stability. Consequently, the use of carbon materials for EDLC electrodes has attracted considerable research interest. In this paper, in order to evaluate the electrochemical performance, graphene is used as an EDLC electrode with flake sizes of 3, 12, and 60 nm. The surface characteristic and electrochemical properties of graphene were investigated using SEM, BET, and cyclic voltammetry. The specific capacitance of the graphene based EDLC was measured in a 1 M $TEABF_4/ACN$ electrolyte at the scan rates of 2, 10, and 50 mV/s. The 3 nm graphene electrode had the highest specific capacitance (68.9 F/g) compared to other samples. This result was attributed to graphene's large surface area and meso-pore volume. Therefore, large surface area and meso-pore volume effectively enhances the specific capacitance of EDLCs.

• Carbon letters
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.192-197
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• 2014

A hierarchical pore structured novolac-type phenol based-activated carbon with micropores and mesopores was fabricated. Physical activation using a sacrificial silicon dioxide ($SiO_2$) template and chemical activation using potassium hydroxide (KOH) were employed to prepare these materials. The morphology of the well-developed pore structure was characterized using field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The novolac-type phenol-based activated carbon retained hierarchical pores (micropores and mesopores); it exhibited high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface areas and hierarchical pore size distributions. The hierarchical pore novolac-type phenol-based activated carbon was used as an electrode in electric double-layer capacitors, and the specific capacitance and the retained capacitance ratio were measured. The specific capacitances and the retained capacitance ratio were enhanced, depending on the $SiO_2$ concentration in the material. This result is attributed to the hierarchical pore structure of the novolac-type phenol-based activated carbon.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.874-879
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• 2017

This paper challenges the fabrication of a thin film energy storage device on a flexible polymer substrate specifically by replacing most commonly used metal foil current collectors with coated current collectors. Mass-manufacturable spray-coating technology enables the fabrication of two different half-cell electric double layer capacitors (EDLC) with a spray-coated silver paste current collector and a Ni foil current collector. The larger specific capacitances of the half-cell EDLC with the spray-coated silver current collector are obtained as 103.86 F/g and 76.8 F/g for scan rates of 10 mV/s and 500 mV/s, respectively. Further, even though the half-cell EDLC with the spray-coated current collector is heavier than that with the Ni foil current collector, smaller Warburg impedance and contact resistance are characterized from Nyquist plots. For the applied voltages ranging from -0.5 V to 0.5 V, the spray-coated thin film energy storage device exhibits a better performance.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.07c
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• pp.2022-2024
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• 2005

Electrical double-layer capacitor (EDLC) is an electrochemical energy storage device in which electric charges only accumulated by a pure electrostatic attraction force are stored on the electrolyte-electrode interface in a form of double layer and separated by the electrolyte. The composite was prepared by mixing nanosize $TiO_2$ and activated carbon through a means of ultrasonic vibration in ethanol solution for 30 min in various mass ratios of $AC:TiO_2$ to form activated carbone-semiconducting oxide composites. Either 1.0 M $LiClO_4/EC-DEC$ or $Et_4NBF_4$/EC-DEC was used as the electrolyte. It was found that with modification of $TiO_2$, the specific capacitance of activated carbon measured at $1mA/cm^2$ was increased from 40 to 50 F/g. This method is unique in comparison the conventional method because it uses semiconducting TiO2 other than electrochemically active materials such as $RuO_2$. The increase in specific capacitance could be attributed to the decrease in electric polarization, caused by the introduction of $RuO_2$.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.98-103
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• 2001

The electrochemical characteristics and specific capacitance were investigated by preparation processes (dip coating method, doctor blade coating method and paste rolling method) of activated carbon electrode for an EDLC(electric double layer capacitor). The EDLC using $LiPF_6$ salts and PC-DEC solvents showed good specific capacitance, 130F/g and small IR-drop at linear time-voltage curve. 0.11V, Cyclic voltammetry analysis using the activated carbon electrode prepared by dip coating method was shown closer to ideal EDLC characterization.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.408-415
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• 2014

In order to prepare high-quality activated carbons (ACs), coal tar pitch (CTP), and mixtures of CTP and petroleum pitch (PP) were activated with KOH. The ACs prepared by activation of CTP in the range of $700{\sim}1000^{\circ}C$ for 1~5 h had very porous textures with large specific surface areas of $2470{\sim}3081m^2/g$. The optimal activation conditions of CTP were determined as CTP/KOH ratio of 1:4, activation temperature of $900^{\circ}C$, and activation time of 3 h. The obtained AC showed the highest micro-pore volume, and pretty high specific surface area and meso-pore volume. The micro-pore volumes and specific areas of activated mixtures of CTP and PP were similar to each other but the meso-pore volume could be increased. In order to change the degree of crystallinity of precursors before KOH activation process, the CTPs were carbonized in the range of $500{\sim}900^{\circ}C$. As the carbonization temperature increased, the specific surface area and pore volume of the activated ACs with the same activation conditions for CTP decreased dramatically. It was demonstrated that the increased pore size distribution of AC electrodes in the range of 1 to 2 nm plays an important role in the performance of electric double-layer capacitor.

• Carbon letters
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.252-255
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• 2011

Carbon-based electric double-layer capacitors are being evaluated as potential energy-storage devices in an expanding number of applications. In this study, samples of carbon black (CB) treated at different temperatures ranging from $650^{\circ}C$ to $1100^{\circ}C$ were used as electrodes to improve the efficiency of a capacitor. The surface properties of the heat-treated CB samples were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The effect of the heat-treatment temperature on the electrochemical behaviors was investigated by cyclic voltammetry and in galvanostatic charge-discharge experiments. The experimental results showed that the crystallinity of the CBs increased as the heat-treatment temperature increased. In addition, the specific capacitance of the CBs was found to increase with the increase in the heat-treatment temperature. The maximum specific capacitance was 165 $F{\cdot}g-1$ for the CB sample treated at $1000^{\circ}C$.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2008.07a
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• pp.1156-1157
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• 2008

The use of the pulsed electro acoustic (PEA) method allowed us to perform the direct observations of spatio-temporal charge distributions in Electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs) based on polarizable nanoporous carbonaceous electrode. The negative charge density became the maximum, about 205 $C/m^3$ at the region where was near to collector layer in EDLCs for case $V_{DC}$ = 2.5 V, while the positively charged density became the maximum, about 61.1 $C/m^3$ at the region where it was located around the cathode layer. The PEA measurement used here is a very useful method to quantitively investigates the spatio-temporal charge distribution in EDLCs.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.184-193
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• 2023

This study investigates the effects of a carbon fiber layer formed on the surface of an etched aluminum current collector on the electrochemical properties of the activated carbon electrodes for an electric double layer capacitor. A particle size analyzer, field-emission SEM, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm analyzer are employed to analyze the structure of the carbon fiber layer. The electric and electrochemical properties of the activated carbon electrodes using a carbon fiber layer are evaluated using an electrode resistance meter and a charge-discharge tester, respectively. To uniformly coat the surface with carbon fiber, we applied a planetary mill process, adjusted the particle size, and prepared the carbon paste by dispersing in a binder. Subsequently, the carbon paste was coated on the surface of the etched aluminum current collector to form the carbon under layer, after which an activated carbon slurry was coated to form the electrodes. Based on the results, the interface resistance of the EDLC cell made of the current collector with the carbon fiber layer was reduced compared to the cell using the pristine current collector. The interfacial resistance decreased from 0.0143 Ω·cm² to a maximum of 0.0077 Ω·cm². And degradation reactions of the activated carbon electrodes are suppressed in the 3.3 V floating test. We infer that it is because the improved electric network of the carbon fiber layer coated on the current collector surface enhanced the electron collection and interfacial diffusion while protecting the surface of the cathode etched aluminum; thereby suppressing the formation of Al-F compounds.