Studies on the performances of silica aerogel electrodes for the application of supercapacitor

Silica aerogel (SiO 2 aerogel) was prepared by sol–gel method from tetraethyl orthosilicate hydrolyzation and has been characterized by scanning electron microscopy and N 2 adsorption for its surface structure, surface area, and pore-size distribution. Constant current charge–discharge technique, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectrum were employed for its specific capacitance and equivalent series resistance. The results showed that the maximum specific capacitance of SiO 2 aerogel electrode in 1 M Et 4 NBF 4 /PC electrolyte was 62.5 F g −1 . In addition, the SiO 2 aerogel capacitor exhibits excellent long-term stability with no significant degradation after 500 charging and discharging cycles. Therefore, the application of high surface area SiO 2 aerogel as electrodes in supercapacitor devices is promising.