Synergistic Study of Novel Dicationic Triazolium Electrolyte and Activated Carbon Electrode with Nickel Foam and Stainless Steel as Current Collector

The foundation of all electrochemical and supercapacitive energy storage systems is the current collector base, which is employed for deposition of active materials. This study aims to investigate the compatibility of a novel triazolium based dicationic salt as electrolyte for activated carbon (AC) electrodes on stainless steel and nickel foam current collectors. The dicationic salt exhibits a thermal stability of 270°C and potential window of 3 V, which is nearly the maximum stability for low concentration that has been reported. The activated carbon yielded a surface area of 695 m2/g. To assess the electrolytic performance of dicationic salt in device, cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy methods were used. For the AC-NF and AC-SS electrodes, the GCD cycles yielded specific energy and power of 0.416 W h/kg and 107.81 W/kg, respectively, and 1.842 W h/kg and 309.86 W/kg. AC-NF system retained 86% of capacitance after 3000 charging-discharging cycles with a current density of 0.21 A/g at 1 V, whereas the AC-SS system was able to maintain 81% of its initial capacitance after 3000 cycles with a current density of 0.33 A/g at 2 V. The findings suggest that AC-SS electrodes are more compatible with dicationic salt.