A Universal Model for Nanoporous Carbon Supercapacitors Applicable to Diverse Pore Regimes, Carbon Materials, and Electrolytes

Supercapacitors, commonly called electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs), are emerging as a novel type of energy-storage device with the potential to substitute batteries in applications that require high power densities. In response to the latest experimental breakthrough in nanoporous carbon supercapacitors, we propose a heuristic theoretical model that takes pore curvature into account as a replacement for the EDLC model, which is based on a traditional parallel-plate capacitor. When the pore size is in the mesopore regime (2-50 nm), counterions enter mesoporous carbon materials and approach the pore wall to form an electric double-cylinder capacitor (EDCC); in the micropore regime (50 nm) at which pores…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy
• LD
  Laboratory Directed Research and Development
• OR
  Oak Ridge National Laboratory