Hierarchical porous carbon hollow-spheres as a high performance electrical double-layer capacitor material

Dispersed carbon hollow-spheres with micropore shells and meso/macropore cores are prepared through a simple and efficient hydrothermal treatment directly using colloidal silica as template. The as-prepared hollow spheres are used as supercapacitor electrode material and exhibit high specific capacitance (about 270 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 in KOH aqueous electrolyte), long cyclic life and excellent rate capability, which is applicable for high performance electrical double-layer capacitors.

► Novel preparation method directly using colloidal silica as template. ► Unique hierarchical porous structure with micropore shell and meso/macropore core. ► Excellent electrochemical performances as capacitor electrode material.