Enhancing the Capacitive Performance of Electric Double-Layer Capacitors with Ionic Liquid Mixtures

Formulating room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) mixed electrolytes was recently proposed as an effective and convenient strategy to increase the capacitive performance of electrochemical capacitors. Here we investigate the electrical double-layer (EDL) structure and the capacitance of two RTILs, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (EMI-TFSI) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EMI-BF₄), and their mixtures with onion-like carbon electrodes using experiment and classical density functional theory. The principal difference between these ionic liquids is the smaller diameter of the BF₄^– anion relative to the TFSI^– anion and the EMI⁺ cation. A volcano-shaped trend is identified for the capacitance versus the composition of the RTIL mixture. The mixture effect, which makes more counterions pack on and more co-ions leave from the electrode surface, leads to an increase of the counterion density within the EDL and thus a larger capacitance. These theoretical predictions are in good agreement with our experimental observations and offer guidance for designing RTIL mixtures for EDL supercapacitors.