Supercapacitive properties of activated carbon electrode using ammonium based proton conducting electrolytes

In this study, we demonstrated the usefulness of proton conducting electrolytes (such as ammonium thiocyanate (NH₄SCN) and ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃)) for electrochemical energy storage devices using activated carbon (AC) as the electrode material. The cyclic voltammetry analysis revealed the presence of rectangular shaped cyclic voltammograms indicating the presence of electrical double layer capacitance in AC electrode using NH₄SCN and NH₄NO₃ electrolytes. The mechanism of charge-storage in AC electrode using the proton conducting electrolytes has been studied in detail using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (Nyquist and Bode plots). The galvanostatic charge-discharge analysis revealed that a maximum specific capacitance of AC electrode using NH₄SCN and NH₄NO₃ electrolytes was found to be 136.75 mF cm^?2 and 113.38 mF cm^?2 at a current density of 0.5 mA cm^?2. This study would open a new avenue for the use of ammonium based proton conducting electrolytes for supercapacitor applications.