Modified polyacrylonitrile-based activated carbon fibers applied in supercapacitor

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to prepare a new modified activated carbon fibers (ACFs) of high specific capacitance used for electrode material of supercapacitor. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the specific capacitance of ACF was significantly increased by using the phenolic resin microspheres and melamine as modifiers to prepare modified PAN-based activated carbon fibers (MACFs) via electrospinning, pre-oxidation and carbonization. The symmetrical supercapacitor (using MACF as electrode) and hybrid supercapacitor (using MACF and activated carbon as electrodes) were tested in term of electrochemical properties by cyclic voltammetry, AC impedance and cycle stability test. Findings It was found that the specific capacitance value of the modified fibers were increased to 167 Fg-1 by adding modifiers (i.e. 20 wt.% microspheres and 15 wt.% melamine) compared to that of unmodified fibers (86.17 Fg-1). Specific capacitance of modified electrode material had little degradation over 10,000 cycles. This result can be attributed to that the modifiers embedded into the fibers changed the original morphology and enhanced the specific surface area of the fibers. Originality/value The modified ACFs in our study had high specific surface area and significantly high specific capacitance, which can be applied as efficient and environmental absorbent, and advanced electrode material of supercapacitor.