Activated Carbon Modified with Carbon Nanodots as\nNovel Electrode Material for Supercapacitors

Abstract

The main goal of\nthis work was to modify activated carbon (AC)\nwith carbon nanodots (C-dots) and to explore the modified composites\nas electrode materials for supercapacitors. C-dots were synthesized\nby sonication of polyethylene glycol followed by sonochemical modification\nof AC matrices with the preprepared C-dots. Sonication introduces\nthe C-dots into the pores of the AC. The effect of the introduction\nof the C-dots into the AC and their incorporation into the pores was\nstudied. The porosity of the AC/C-dots and the AC reference materials\nwas explored, as well as the impact of the C-dot loading on the performance\nof the electrodes comprising these AC/C-dots. It was found that the\nAC/C-dot electrodes demonstrate a specific capacitance of 0.185 F/cm² (per specific electrode area), three times higher than the\ncapacitance of unmodified AC electrodes per specific electrode’s\narea. It was established that the new electrode’s material,\nnamely, AC/C-dots, exhibits very stable electrochemical behavior.\nMany thousands of cycles could be demonstrated with stable capacity\nand a Coulombic efficiency of around 100%.