Worldwide research has identified electrical energy storage as one of the key areas for rapid advancement. There is a need of efficient storage and utilisation of electricity generated by intermittent sources to make a smooth transition of motor vehicles from traditional energy sources to electrically driven sources. This process highly depends on the development of high energy and power densities’ energy storage devices. Researchers have identified super-capacitors as one of the promising candidates for this purpose. Super-capacitors have a higher power density, but a lower energy density in comparison to other traditional energy and power devices. In future, they may find applications in various devices like hybrid vehicles. However, to achieve this target, it is crucial to maximise the energy density of super-capacitors. The focus of the paper is on the synthesis of electrodes using activated carbon mixed with polytetrafluoroethylene as the binder and soaking these electrodes in propylene carbonate. The aim is to maximise the energy density of prepared super-capacitors by varying electrolyte concentration, surface potential and dielectric constant of the medium. The dielectric constant was varied by varying the volumes of ethylene carbonate in propylene carbonate. A scrutinised binary model for net medium dielectric constant calculation was selected from literature to compare experimental values with theoretical values. Moreover, the transitional behaviours of the stern and diffuse layers capacitance with electrolyte concentration were also analysed using the modified Gouy-Chapman-Stern Model.

Keywords: Activated Carbon; Energy Density; Gouy-Chapman-Stern; Super-capacitor