Hierarchical nanostructured carbon materials for ultrahigh electrochemical energy storage

Nanostructured carbon materials with hierarchical porosities composed of macro-, meso- and micropores, such as hollow core carbon sphere (HCCS) and multimodal porous carbon (MPC) have been investigated as electrode materials for electric double-layer capacitors. Compared with their counterparts such as Norit SX Plus activated carbon and Pearls 2000 carbon black, the as-prepared HCCS and MPC have demonstrated much higher specific capacitance and energy, and better cycling performance. This is mainly attributable to their excellent structural characteristics such as large specific surface area and mesoporous volume, and particularly well-developed hierarchical nanostructures facilitating fast mass transport.