Preparation and electrochemical performance of copper Oxide/Porous carbon composites as electrode materials for electrochemical capacitors

Copper oxide/porous carbon composite materials were prepared by a chemical deposition method. The effects of heat treatment temperature and copper oxide loading amount on the physical and chemical properties of the composites were investigated. The results show that heat treatment can change species of copper oxide, and these species can influence the electrochemical performance of the composite electrode materials. After loading 20wt% copper oxide, a relatively strong peak current appears in the cyclic voltammograms of copper oxide/porous carbon composite electrode, but its electrochemical capability is unstable. The decrease of the loading amount of copper oxide is responsible for the improvement of electrochemical stability. When 3wt% of copper oxide materials is loaded, the single-electrode specific capacitance of the composite electrode reaches 325F/g, which is higher than that of pure porous carbons (256F/g).