There are several advantages to developing electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLC) or supercapacitors with high specific energy densities, for example, these can be used in applications related to quality power generation, voltage stabilization, and frequency regulation. In this regard, ionic liquids capable of providing a higher voltage window of operations compared to an aqueous and/or polymer electrolyte can significantly enhance the specific energy densities of EDLCs. Here we demonstrate that EDLCs fabricated using ionic liquid 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium tris (pentafluoroethyl) trifluorophosphate (BMP-FAP) as an electrolyte and few layer liquid-phase exfoliated graphene as electrodes show remarkable performance compared to EDLC devices fabricated with aqueous potassium hydroxide (6M) as well as widely used ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIM-PF6). We found that graphene EDLC’s with BMP-FAP as an electrolyte possess a high specific energy density of ≈25 Wh/kg along with specific capacitance values as high as 200 F/g and having an operating voltage windows of >5 volts with a rapid charge transfer response. These findings strongly indicate the suitability of BMP-FAP as a good choice of electrolyte for high energy density EDLC devices.
Toward Low-Cost, High-Energy Density, and High-Power Density Lithium-Ion Batteries