Carbon aerogels with oxygen-containing surface groups for use in supercapacitors

Abstract We prepared a series of modified carbon aerogels with oxygen-containing functional groups through a sol–gel process by polycondensation of phloroglucinol, resorcinol and formaldehyde using starch addition. The effect of starch addition on the pore structure and electrochemical performance of the carbon aerogels was investigated. Carbon aerogels were characterized by scanning-electron microscopy, transmission-electron microscopy, surface-area analysis, X-ray diffractometry, Raman spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrochemical properties were studied by using cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. When the starch addition was 25 wt%, the as-prepared sample had a specific surface area of 734 m 2  g −1 and an outstanding specific capacitance of 147 F g −1 at 1.0 A g −1 . The as-prepared carbon aerogels exhibited a high coulombic efficiency and a stable cycle life at a current density of 1.0 A g −1 over 1000 cycles. This ideal performance was attributed to the addition of starch, which was beneficial for the application of carbon aerogels in supercapacitors.