Synthesis of hydrophilic carbon black; role of hydrophilicity in maintaining the hydration level and protonic conduction

We report the low-temperature (250 degree C) synthesis of high-performance hydrophilic carbon black for application as a conducting filler in supercapacitor electrodes. Increased water content, due to the hydrophilicity, maintained the uniform hydration level of MnO sub(2)/carbon composite electrodes, with good protonic conduction. This results in an increase in the total specific capacitance by 24%.