Enhanced mesoporosity and capacitance property of spherical carbon aerogel prepared by associating Mg(OH)2 with non-ionic surfactant

Non-ionic surfactant F127 (PEO106–PPO70–PEO106) has been employed to enhance the mesoporosity of carbon aerogel (CA) for electric double layer capacitor application. Field emission scanning electron microscopy images exhibit that CA spheres prepared with F127 possess much coarser surface and smaller diameter. Furthermore, nitrogen sorption measurements show that the total pore volume of CA prepared with 0.6 wt.% F127 is 0.90 cm3 g−1 and the ratio of its mesopore volume to the total pore volume (mesoporosity) could reach 86%. The specific capacitance of this CA electrode is approximately 130.8 F g−1 in 4 M KOH, which is 45% higher than that of CA solely catalyzed by Mg(OH)2. The high specific capacitance of the CA is believed to be associated with its enhanced mesoporosity as well as the high pore volume. It also performs well in the galvanostatic charge/discharge measurement for supercapacitor.