Hypercrosslinked polymers HCPs have been widely used as precursors to prepare porous carbon materials because of their highly ordered porous structure and large specific surface area. In this paper, we used a solvothermal method to prepare a hypercrosslinked polymer, and the HCPC-700-A was prepared using an activation method with the hypercrosslinked polymer as the precursor. The effects of different carbon–alkali ratios on the microstructure, composition and electrochemical properties of porous carbon HCP were studied. The results show that the surface of porous carbon HCPC-700-A presents a relatively regular geometric shape, and a large number of pore structures are mainly micro- and mesopores. The specific surface area is 2074.53 m2 g− 1, and the average pore size is between 1.29 and 1.93 nm. Porous carbon HCPC-700-1:2 has excellent electrochemical performance in 1 M H2SO4, and the specific capacitance is up to 464.4 F g− 1 at a current density of 1 A g− 1. The specific capacitance decay rate is 29.72% when the current density is increased from 1 A g− 1 to 8 A g− 1. After 5000 cycles, the capacitance retention rate is 91.16% at a current density of 2 A g− 1, showing excellent electrochemical performance, good cycle stability and perfect energy storage performance. This research provides new experimental ideas for HCPs in the electrochemical energy storage field.

    Abstract
    1 Introduction
    2 Experimental method
        2.1 Preparation of carbon precursor
        2.2 Preparation of porous carbon materials
        2.3 Structural performance characterization
        2.4 Preparation of the working electrode
        2.5 Electrochemical performance test
    3 Results and discussion
        3.1 Phase analysis
        3.2 Microstructure
        3.3 Surface composition and element analysis
        3.4 Electrochemical performance analysis
    4 Conclusion
    Acknowledgements 
    References

• Lili Wu(Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Energy and Chemical Engineering of Gansu Province, School of Petrochemical Technology, Lanzhou University of Technology Lanzhou)
• Pitao Wang(Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Energy and Chemical Engineering of Gansu Province, School of Petrochemical Technology, Lanzhou University of Technology Lanzhou)
• Xinguo Chen(Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Energy and Chemical Engineering of Gansu Province, School of Petrochemical Technology, Lanzhou University of Technology Lanzhou)
• Jianqiang Zhang(Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Energy and Chemical Engineering of Gansu Province, School of Petrochemical Technology, Lanzhou University of Technology Lanzhou)
• Heming Luo(Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Energy and Chemical Engineering of Gansu Province, School of Petrochemical Technology, Lanzhou University of Technology Lanzhou)