One-step synthesis of high-performance porous carbon from corn starch for supercapacitor

The novel route for preparation of high-performance porous carbon from corn starch by a one-step process of chemical activation with H3PO4 was studied in this paper. The resulting porous carbon showed a high specific surface area of 1167 m(2) g(-1) and a large pore volume of 1.80 cm(3) g(-1). The maximum specific capacitance was up to 162 F g(-1) at a current density of 0.625 A g(-1), which was higher than commercial carbon (100 F g(-1)). Meanwhile, the electrode exhibited larger energy density (22.5 Wh kg(-1) at a power density of 313 W kg(-1)) and longer cycle stability with above 93% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles. The better capacitive behavior was ascribed to unique pore structure, which indicated the porous carbon will be an ideal electrode material for supercapacitor. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.