Mesoporous carbon spheres serving as electrode materials for supercapacitors were synthesized by a facile polymerization-induced colloid aggregation method using melamines as a carbon precursor and commercial colloidal silica as a silica source for hard template. After the carbonization of as-formed resins-template composites at 1000 degrees C and the removal of the silica template by hydrofluoric acid, the resulting mesoporous carbon spheres with a diameter size of similar to 5 mu m, specific surface area (up to 1280 m(2)/g) and uniform pore size as large as 30 nm could be obtained. Due to the enriched nitrogen content and the large pore size of the mesoporous carbon spheres affecting the surface wetiability, resistance, and ion diffusion process in the pores, the mesoporous carbon spheres showed a high specific capacitance of 196 F/g in 5 mol/l H(2)SO(4) electrolytes at a discharge current density of 1 A/g. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.