Pore structure tuning of mesoporous carbon prepared by direct templating method for application to high rate supercapacitor electrodes

In this study, direct templating method was employed for preparation of mesoporous carbon materials with different pore structure. In order to control pore structure, reaction time of surfactant/silicate which played a role of template was varied. According to increase of reaction time, larger pore size, smaller pore volume, lower pore connectivity and rougher pore surface were observed. From an investigation of supercapacitor performance, it was concluded that higher pore connectivity resulted in more improved rate performance in spite of smaller pore size. Especially, the carbon electrode of 2 h reaction time delivered a high capacitance of 102 F g−1 and capacitance per area (13.0 μF cm−2), which indicated an efficient utilization of the available pores. Furthermore, the electrode exhibited a low resistance of 2.4 Ω cm2, which was comparable to ordered mesoporous carbon electrodes.