Enhanced capacitive properties of commercial activated carbon by re-activation in molten carbonates

• Commercial activated carbons are re-activated in molten carbonates.
• The origin and re-activated carbons are evaluated for supercapacitor.
• Activated carbons after molten carbonate treatment show enhanced capacitive performance.
• Rationalizations on mechanism and structure-activity correlations are provided.

Simple, affordable and green methods to improve capacitive properties of commercial activated carbon (AC) are intriguing since ACs possess a predominant role in the commercial supercapacitor market. Herein, we report a green reactivation of commercial ACs by soaking ACs in molten Na2CO3–K2CO3 (equal in mass ratios) at 850 °C combining the merits of both physical and chemical activation strategies. The mechanism of molten carbonate treatment and structure-capacitive activity correlations of the ACs are rationalized. Characterizations show that the molten carbonate treatment increases the electrical conductivity of AC without compromising its porosity and wettability of electrolytes. Electrochemical tests show the treated AC exhibited higher specific capacitance, enhanced high-rate capability and excellent cycle performance, promising its practical application in supercapacitors. The present study confirms that the molten carbonate reactivation is a green and effective method to enhance capacitive properties of ACs.

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