(88a) Design Principles for Graphene-Based Materials to Enhance Supercapacitor Performance

Carbon-based nanomaterials such as graphene and nanotubes are a promising class of electrodes for electrochemical double layer capacitors, due to their high accessible surface area, high electrical conductivity, and tunability through functionalization. A series of recent studies have shown that chemically and mechanically modified graphene electrodes can have improved capacitance, which has been through typically to be associated with the increased double layer capacitance from a high BET surface area or an enhanced electrolyte-electrode interfacial interaction. However, the influence of the electrode’s quantum capacitance is relatively unknown. In this talk, we will present a computational framework based on density functional theory and classical molecular dynamics to explore the relative contributions of the quantum capacitance of electrode and the electric double layer capacitance to the total interfacial capacitance for various carbon electrode systems in ionic liquids. We will also discuss the impact of the chemical and/or mechanical modifications of graphene-like electrodes on the total capacitance and the design principles to enhance supercapacitor performance.