High-performance organic electrolyte supercapacitors based on intrinsically powdery carbon aerogels

A novel class of powdery carbon aerogels (PCAs) has been developed by the union of microemulsion polymerization and hypercrosslinking, followed by carbonization. The resulting aerogels are in a microscale powdery form, demonstrate a well-defined 3D interconnected nanonetwork with hierarchical pores derived from numerous interstitial nanopores and intraparticle micropores, and exhibit high surface area (up to 1969 m²/g). Benefiting from these structural features, PCAs show impressive capacitive performances when utilized as electrodes for organic electrolyte supercapacitors, including large capacitances of up to 152 F/g, high energy densities of 37-15 Wh/kg at power densities of 34–6750 W/kg, and robust cycling stability.