Self-Templated Synthesis of Mesoporous Carbon from Carbon Tetrachloride Precursor for Supercapacitor Electrodes

A high-surface-area mesoporous carbon material has been synthesized using a self-templating approach via reduction of carbon tetrachloride by sodium potassium alloy. The advantage is the reduction generated salt templates can be easily removed with just water. The produced mesoporous carbon has a high surface area and a narrow pore size distribution. When used as a supercapacitor electrode, this material exhibits a high specific capacitance (259 F g(-1)) and excellent cycling performance (>92% capacitance retention for 6000 cycles).