Abstract: Capacitance characteristics of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in room temperature molten salt (RTMS) electrolyte of LiTFSI-acetamide were investigated. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge/discharge measurements were employed to investigate the electrochemical performance of the test cells composed of a pair of carbon nanotubes electrodes and RTMS as electrolyte. The CNTs exhibited typical capacitance behavior in LiTFSI-acetamide, and a high specific capacitance of 22 F•g-1 estimated from galvanostatic discharge was obtained. The working voltage of the test cells could reach at 2.0 V, and they also showed a practical good level of durability over cycles of charge and discharge. After 1000 charge and discharge cycles, the capacity loss was just 10% of the initial discharge capacity. The preliminary results suggest that RTMS is a kind of promising electrolyte for supercapacitors.

Key words: Carbon nanotubes, Room temperature molten salt, Capacitance