Influences of ions and temperature on performance of carbon nano-particulates in supercapacitors with neutral aqueous electrolytes

A commercial product of carbon nano-particles, Cabot MONACH 1300 pigment black （CMPB）, was studied for basic structural information and electrochemical performance in neutral aqueous electrolytes, aiming at applications in supercapacitors. As confirmed by SEM and HRTEM, the CMPB had a hierarchical struc- ture, containing basic 10 nm nano-spheres which combined into ca. 50 nm agglomerates which further aggregated into larger particles of micrometres. The capacitance of this commercial material was found to increase with decreasing the size of hydrous cation （Li＋→Na＋ → K＋）, instead of the cation crystal radius （K＋→ Na＋→Li＋） when coupled with the same anion （cl-）. In electrolytes with the same cation concentration （K＋）, changing the anion from the larger dianion （SO42 ） to the smaller monoanion （cl-） also increased the capacitance at high potential scan rates （〉50 mV/s）. Increasing electrolyte concentration produced expected effect, including raising the electrode capacitance, but lowering the equivalent series resistance （ESR）, charge transfer resistance （CTR）, and the diffusion resistance. At higher temperatures, the CMPB exhibited slightly higher capacitance, which does not agree with the Gouy-Chapman theory on electric double layer （EDL）. A hypothesis is proposed to account for the capacitance increase with temperature as a result of the CMPB opening up some micro-pores for more ions to access in response to the temperature increase.