Activated carbon modified by coupling agent for supercapacitor

A novel and simple strategy by introducing a silane coupling agent into the electrode to improve the supercapacitor performance has been developed in this study. The surface modification of the activated carbon material and the Al current collector are conducted under two different neutral and acidic conditions. The improved electrodes are characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mechanical tests and electrochemical measurements. The obtained results reveal that the treated activated carbon electrode retains good mechanical properties with decreased bonder content. The electrode prepared using activated carbon treated with the silane coupling agent in acetic acid conditions (pH = 5.0) and a bonder mass content of 7.0% shows the best electrochemical performance. The specific capacitance reaches 352.5 F g−1, whereas the internal resistance and charge–discharge efficiency are 0.82 Ω and 98.2% respectively.