Fabrication of an Efficient Supercapacitor Based on Defective Mesoporous Carbon As Electrode Material Utilizing Reactive Blue 15 As Novel Redox Mediator for Natural Aqueous Electrolyte

Herein, the application of Reactive Blue 15 as novel and efficient redox additive for natural aqueous electrolyte was reported in where defective mesoporous carbon (DMC) with the interconnected porous network was applied as electrode material. Excellent electrochemical performance is achieved at 0.05 M of R. B. 15 in 1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte. The obtained data from RAMAN, SEM, TEM, and Nitrogen adsorption/desorption confirmed the DMC structure. The supercapacitive performance of DMC and DMC electrodes with RB redox additive in 1 M Na2SO4 as electrolyte was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD) techniques. Compared to DMC, the DMC-RB/Na2SO4 delivered the highest specific capacitance reaching to 207 F/g at the applied current density of 0.5 A/g. Moreover, the DMC-RB/Na2SO4 exhibited long term cyclability, in where 76% of specific capacitance was retained after 3000 GCD measurement at the high current density of 1 A/g. Also, the specific energy of 18.45 Wh/kg was obtained for the symmetric device which shows nearly threefold increase over the DMC electrode with pure Na2SO4 electrolyte.