Abstract
The porous structures of the mesoporous carbon materials, which are known to be effective energy storing systems, were manipulated and their behaviors as electric double-layer capacitor electrodes were evaluated. Resorcinol (R) as the raw material and acetaldehyde (A) as the cross-linking agent were used to synthesize the RA hydrogels via sol-gel polycondensation in a slightly basic aqueous solution. The RA hydrogels were freeze-dried and subsequently pyrolyzed at 1073 K for 30 min (heating rate, 10 K/min) to obtain the RA carbon cryogels. The obtained samples were confirmed to have a high mesoporous carbon content, with the primary pore size diameter distribution of 20 to 40 nm. Due to a high ratio of ion adsorption and desorption capacitances, the samples were effective electrode materials capable of high-speed electrical charge and discharge for use as electrode materials of electric double layer capacitors.
