Enhanced functional properties of porous carbon materials as high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors

Porous carbons with unique electronic, chemical, and surface properties have become a research hotspot in energy storage applications. But the electrodes of porous carbons in supercapacitors cannot meet the ever-inrceasing demands for high energy density for electronic devices. Heteroatom, metal oxide and conductive polymer can provide pseudo-capacitance for porous carbon materials during charging and discharging to improve energy density. Therefore, it is of great interest to develop modified porous carbon composites as electrode materials for supercapacitors. In this review, after a brief introduction for electrochemcial capacitors, we summarize the advances in the recent years, in the preparation and properties of porous carbons for applications in supercapacitors. The advantages and disadvantages of activated carbon, template carbon, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene are analyzed. Different ways of modification have their own effects on the development of high-performance supercapacitors. Finally, the challenges in the modified porous carbon composites and its future perspectives are highlighted to provide a key insight to the promising factors for future developments of supercapacitor electrodes.