Ecklonia cava based mesoporous activated carbon for high-rate energy storage devices

Activated carbon has received enormous global attention as an electrode material for electrical double layer capacitors (EDLCs) due to its superior electrochemical performance. But while manufacturing high-quality activated carbon as an electrode material, overcoming limitations such as depletion of raw material resources, poor high-rate performance, and cycle stability is still a significant challenge. To address these limitations, we firstly suggest a novel mesoporous activated carbon derived from ecklonia cava (Meso-ACDE) using an acid-base reaction and KOH activation processes. The optimized Meso-ACDE electrode showed a superior specific capacitance of 182 F g⁻¹ at the current density of 0.2 A g⁻¹ and a high-rate capacitance of 154 F g⁻¹ at the current density of 20.0 A g⁻¹ with an excellent cycling stability up to 2000 cycles. The enhanced electrochemical performance of the Meso-ACDE electrode was mainly attributed to the well-developed mesoporous structure with a high concentration of oxygen related functional groups, which were acquired during the activation process. Thus, we believe that the Meso-ACDE could be a promising alternative to conventional activated carbon for high-performance EDLCs.