The overarching objective of this project is to investigate a novel concept of three - dimensional (3D) supercapacitors (SCs) with 3D... Show moreThe overarching objective of this project is to investigate a novel concept of three - dimensional (3D) supercapacitors (SCs) with 3D interpenetrating positive and negative electrodes. Such 3D SCs are expected to be able to convert the high energy and high power densities based on the active electrode materials into comparable high energy and high power densities for assembled SCs. The SCs will be fabricated via micro-extrusion method layer by layer. The electrode will be fabricated from graphene/activated carbon (AC)-based materials. We investigated two types of graphene, graphene slurries preparation and characterization in this study. Activated carbon (AC) was processed with different ball milling conditions. The characterization of graphene and activated carbon with different conditions were performed using SEM, BET, TGA, RAMAN, FTIR methods. Galvanostatically cycling and cyclic voltammetry tests were conducted on AC with different conditions. The ball milled 6-hour AC has specific capacitance high up to 102F/g (209μF/cm2) specific. High energy ball milling can induce oxidization of AC which makes the capacity of materials increases. Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, December 2016 Show less
