Is the conductive agent useful in electrodes of graphitized activated carbon?

Abstract

In the making process of supercapacitors, the conductive agent carbon black is used for improving the conductivity of the electrodes and decreasing the resistance of interaction. Is it useful for porous activated carbon? In this research, partly graphitized activated carbon materials are obtained by boron and nitrogen catalysis with renewable fallen leaves as carbon source in a one-step method. The symmetric supercapacitors are fabricated in a conductive agent-free system. The fabrication process is time saving and simple with mixing of activated carbon and binder. Ion adsorption can achieve equilibrium within 2.22 s in the absence of carbon black (CB). The energy density and the power density reach to 48.6 W h kg⁻¹ and 3600 W kg⁻¹ at the potential window of 1.5 V.