Room temperature molten salt as electrolyte for carbon nanotube-based electric double layer capacitors

Electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs) have been assembled with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as the electrodes and a novel binary room temperature molten salt (RTMS) composed of lithium bis(trifluoromethane sulfone)imide (LiN(SO₂CF₃)₂, LiTFSI) and acetamide as the electrolyte. The electrochemical performances of the RTMS and the EDLC are evaluated with cyclic voltammetry (CV), ac impedance spectroscopy and galvanostatic charge/discharge, etc. The EDLC with these components show excellent electrochemical properties in specific capacitance, rate and cycling performances at ambient and elevated (60 °C) temperatures, indicating that RTMS is a promising electrolyte for advanced EDLCs.