Nano-sized Mn-doped activated carbon aerogel as electrode material for electrochemical capacitor: effect of activation conditions.

Carbon aerogel (CA) was prepared by a sol-gel polymerization of resorcinol and formaldehyde, and a series of activated carbon aerogels (ACA-KOH-X, X = 0, 0.3, 0.7, 1, and 2) were then prepared by a chemical activation using different amount of potassium hydroxide (X represented weight ratio of KOH with respect to CA). Specific capacitances of activated carbon aerogels were measured by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge methods in 6 M KOH electrolyte. Among the samples prepared, ACA-KOH-0.7 showed the highest specific capacitance (149 F/g). In order to combine excellent electrochemical performance of activated carbon aerogel with pseudocapacitive property of manganese oxide, 7 wt% Mn was doped on activated carbon aerogel (Mn/ACA-KOH-0.7) by an incipient wetness impregnation method. For comparison, 7 wt% Mn was also impregnated on carbon aerogel (Mn/ACA-KOH-0) by the same method. It was revealed that 7 wt% Mn-doped activated carbon aerogel (Mn/ACA-KOH-0.7) showed higher specific capacitance than 7 wt% Mn-doped carbon aerogel (Mn/ACA-KOH-0) (178 F/g vs. 98 F/g). The enhanced capacitance of Mn/ACA-KOH-0.7 was attributed to the outstanding electric properties of activated carbon aerogel as well as the faradaic redox reactions of manganese oxide.