Ordered mesoporous carbon nanospheres as electrode materials for high-performance supercapacitors

• Soft-templated ordered mesoporous carbon nanospheres (OMCNS) were prepared.
• OMCNS possesses hierarchical porous structure and a high mass density.
• The OMCNS electrode exhibits high gravimetric and volumetric capacitance.
• The OMCNS electrode shows a good excellent rate capability.

Ordered mesoporous carbon nanospheres (OMCNS) were prepared through a facile soft-template method and used as electrode materials for high-performance supercapacitors. The obtained OMCNS possesses a hierarchical porous structure and a relatively high mass density. And the OMCNS electrode exhibits both high gravimetric (173 F g− 1) and volumetric (107 F cm− 3) capacitances simultaneously, as well as a high rate capability and a long-term cycling stability.