Facile synthesis of three-dimensional interconnected porous carbon for high performance supercapacitor

Porous carbon material is a widely utilized commercial supercapacitor material due to large specific surface area, good electrical conductivity and stability. In this work, we develop a simple way to prepare porous structures with unique three-dimensional (3D) interconnections derived from potassium stearate and following potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3) activation. Due to the large specific surface area and 3D interconnected porous structure, the prepared porous carbon electrode exhibits a specific capacitance of 261.3 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 and outstanding cycling stability with capacitance retention of about 99.7 % after 10, 000 cycles. Furthermore, the assembled symmetric supercapacitor displays a high energy density of 13.8 Wh kg−1 with good cycling stability. This well-performing carbon electrode material may contribute to the practical application of supercapacitors and other energy-storage devices.