Influence of activation temperature on electrochemical performances of styrene-acrylonitrile based porous carbons

In this work, we prepared the carbons from synthesized styrene- acrylonitrile carbon precursor. The prepared carbons were chemically activated, and then the activated SAN-based carbons were named as A-SANs. The activations were carried out at different temperatures to investigate the effect of activation temperature on the surface and electrochemical properties of the activated SAN-based carbons for using as an electrode of electric double layer capacitors (EDLC). The characteristics of A-SAN were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), surface area and pore size analysis. Also, the electrochemical behaviors were observed by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge method. From the results, the A-SAN 700 showed excellent electrochemical property and the highest specific capacitance, but these properties decreased when the activation temperature was above 700°C. This is due to the fact that the activation at a temperature over 700°C causes deformation of micropore structures.