Fabricating an Aqueous Symmetric Supercapacitor with a Stable High Working Voltage of 2 V by Using an Alkaline–Acidic Electrolyte

Abstract

Abstract Aqueous symmetric carbon‐based supercapacitors (CSCs) are always the research focus for energy storage devices because of the virtue of low cost, inherent safety, and encouraging electrochemical stability. As is well‐known, so far most aqueous symmetric CSCs are subjected to low energy densities. Here, a symmetric supercapacitor comprising electrodes from biomass‐derived activated carbon and alkaline–acidic electrolyte is reported. This aqueous symmetric CSC demonstrates exceptional electrochemical performance with high stable working voltage of 2 V and attractive cycling stability of no capacitance loss over 10 000 cycles. Impressively, it shows a remarkable energy density of 36.9 W h kg −1 at 248 W kg −1 based on the total mass of the active materials, which is much higher than traditional aqueous symmetric CSCs, and a power density of 4083 W kg −1 with an energy density of 8.8 W h kg −1 . The use of stable alkaline–acidic electrolyte provides an innovative technique to enhance the energy density of aqueous supercapacitors.