Concept for Charge Storage in Electrochemical Capacitors with Functionalized Carbon Electrodes

Carbon functionalized with sulfophenyl moieties provides an interesting way to understand the interdependence between the ionic species of the electrolyte and the electrode materials in carbon-based electrochemical capacitors. In situ measurements of the ionic resistivity of the electrolyte upon polarization revealed that sulfophenyl grafted groups can provide the ionic species required for the formation of a novel type of electrical double layer. This charge storage mechanism can potentially lead to the development of electrochemical capacitors with smaller amounts of electrolyte.