Carbon cloth-reinforced and activated aerogel films for supercapacitors

The incorporation of carbon cloth into resorcinol formaldehyde (RF) aerogel precursors allows the manufacture of flexible, mechanically stable monolithic carbon aerogel electrodes with thicknesses in the 100 mum range. These were used to build button cell supercapacitors (diameter: 22 mm, thickness: 6 mm) with a capacitance of about 11 F and a serial resistance of about 170 m Omega. These cells were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and impedance spectroscopy (IS). A fit function for CV data was developed and confirmed with IS. Self discharge properties and long-term stability of these cells were investigated and compared to cells made with Maxsorb carbon black binder electrodes and activated Kynol fiber cloth electrodes. In these tests the carbon aerogel showed significantly better results than the commercial materials. Activation tests on carbon aerogel electrodes were performed with promising results. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.