Effect of Different Aqueous Electrolytes on Electrochemical Performance of Activated Carbon Anchored by Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes for Supercapacitor Applications

Abstract

Activated carbon anchored by multiwalled carbon nanotubes has been prepared by a simple method and have been reported the effect of various aqueous electrolytes such as KOH and Na 2 SO 4 on electrochemical performance of activated carbon/multiwalled carbon nanotubes composite. The electrochemical performance of as prepared composite has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge discharge (GCD) measurements in 1M KOH and 1M Na 2 SO 4 aqueous electrolytes. Maximum capacitance of prepared composite was 194 F/g at scan rate of 10 mV/s and 56 F/g at scan rate of 100 mV/s in 1M KOH solutions whereas the composite gives maximum capacitance of 21 F/g at scan rate of 40 mV/s in 1M Na 2 SO 4 analyzed by CV measurement. Also, form GCD measurement the composite gives maximum capacitance of 147 F/g at a current density of 60 A/g in 1M KOH and 18 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g in 1M Na 2 SO 4 solutions. The finding suggests that prepared activated carbon/multiwalled carbon nanotubes composite in suitable aqueous electrolytes can be a potential candidate for supercapacitor applications.