Manganese oxide electrochemical capacitor with potassium poly(acrylate) hydrogel electrolyte

An aqueous gel electrolyte has for the first time been successfully applied to the MnO2·nH2O-based pseudocapacitive electrochemical capacitors (ECs). The gel electrolyte is made of potassium poly(acrylate) (PAAK) polymer and aqueous solution of KCl. With the selected composition, PAAK:KCl:H2O = 9.0%:6.7%:84.3% by weight, the gel shows no fluidity, possessing an ionic conductivity in the order of 10−1 S cm−1. The gel electrolyte has been found to give substantially higher specific capacitances than those in the liquid electrolyte with the same salt (KCl) composition (1 M) and high power capability (>10 kW/kg).