Define mass-specific differential capacitance, or specific capacitance, by
State whether is one electrode's active mass, both electrodes' active mass or the entire device mass; these conventions are not interchangeable. An average capacitance inferred from a finite voltage interval is and need not equal the local derivative.
A nearly ideal double-layer supercapacitor has an approximately flat capacitance over its stable operating window, so stored charge rises nearly linearly with potential. Real electrodes need not be flat: dilute-electrolyte double-layer models can give a minimum near the potential of zero charge, while concentrated electrolytes, finite ion size and pore confinement can produce bell-shaped or double-peaked curves. Pseudocapacitance can add broad potential-dependent contributions near a redox transition. The sketch above therefore labels several possible behaviours instead of asserting a universal monotonic trend. Constant-potential simulations have directly found transitions between double-peaked and bell-shaped differential-capacitance curves as interfacial interactions change.[ref]