On the origin of enhanced electrochemical behavior of oxidized activated carbon

The amount of ions stored within the electrochemical double layer is dominantly determined by the surface area of porous electrode. High surface area indicates high capacitance. However, this is not the case when the pore is extremely small, ∼less than 1 nm. To observe this phenomenon, we have carried out an experiment by comparatively investigating the electrochemical performance of activated carbon (AC) and sulfuric acid treated AC (SAC). The results show that the electrochemical performance of SAC involving the specific capacitance, rate capability and cycling stability is significantly increased as compared to pristine AC. These are attributed to the improved porosity by differentiating the respective contributions of electrochemical double layer capacity and pseudo-capacity from SAC and AC, respectively.