Carbon nanofoam supercapacitor electrodes with enhanced performance using a water-transfer process

Abstract

Carbon nanofoam (CNF) is a highly porous, amorphous carbon nanomaterial that can be produced through the interaction of a high-fluence laser and a carbonbased target material. The morphology and electrical properties of CNF make it an ideal candidate for supercapacitor applications. In this paper, we prepare and characterize CNF supercapacitor electrodes through two different processes, namely, a direct process and a water-transfer process. We elucidate the influence of the production process on the microstructural properties of the CNF, as well as the final electrochemical performance. We show that a change in morphology due to capillary forces doubles the specific capacitance of the wet-transferred CNF electrodes. ; This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 642742. A.M.B., J.H.-F., and W.K.M. acknowledge Spanish MINEICO (project ENE2016-79282-C5-1-R), the Gobierno de Aragón (Grupo Reconocido DGA-T03_17R), and associated EU Regional Development Funds. S.V.-R. thanks Spanish MINEICO for her Ph.D. grant (BES2014-068727 and associated EU Social Funds). ; Peer reviewed