Study on supercapacitor preparation techniques of polystyrene-based hierarchical porous carbons

In this study, the relationship between supercapacitor preparation technique and electrochemical performance for polystyrene-based hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) had been studied in detail by means of constant charge/discharge measurements, impedance spectrum, cyclic voltammetric measurements, and so on. The techniques studied here include electrode preparation conditions like electrode weight, percentage of binder (PTFE) and pressing pressure, and concentration of electrolyte (KOH). The experimental results showed that the techniques play an important role in the electrochemical properties of HPC. When the electrode weight, PTFE content, pressing pressure and KOH concentration were 9mg, 8%, 4 MPa and 4mol/L, respectively, HPC exhibited the highest capacitance of 135 F/g. However, when changing the techniques to the case of 9mg, 8%, 1 MPa and 6mol/L, the specific mass capacitance was as low as 56 F/g, only 41% of the above optimal value.