Novel porous carbon electrode derived from hypercross-linked polymer of poly(divinylbenzene-co-vinyl benzyl chloride) for supercapacitor applications

Abstract In the present study, pores enriched high surface area of carbon electrode obtained from hypercross-linked polymer of poly(divinylbenzene-co-vinylbenzyl chloride) [P(DVB:VBC)] for supercapacitor application. First, hypercross-linking reaction was carried out in [P(DVB:VBC)] via. simple Friedel-Crafts alkylation method (HCP) followed by pyrolysis at 800 °C (HCP-800). The surface morphology of the synthesized HCP and HCP-800 materials was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique. HCP-800 showed a remarkable surface area of 1027 m2 g−1 with the abundance of micropores. In addition, the oxidation state of the porous carbon was assessed by x-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS). In a three-electrode and symmetric two-electrode configurations, electrodes exhibited a supreme specific capacitance of 272 and 145 F g−1 in aqueous electrolyte, respectively. Specific energy of 39.47 Wh kg−1 at specific power of 699.96 W kg−1 is yielded from the symmetric supercapacitor device (SSCD). Furthermore, SSCD retains more than 94% of its residual capacitance after 5000 GCD cycles at a current density of 5 A g−1 suggests a good cyclic stability.