TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Component: The electrode comprises a silica sol-gel derived monolith, which is formed by reacting a sol-gel precursor with water in the presence of a catalyst, and controlling a rate of gelation using the catalyst. The conductive material may comprise metal, metal oxide, metal sulfide, or metal nitride of platinum, nickel, gold, palladium, molybdenum, tin oxide, indium tin oxide, zinc oxide, aluminum doped zinc oxide, vanadium pentoxide, titanium dioxide, molybdenum oxide, ruthenium oxide, molybdenum sulfide, tungsten oxide, tungsten sulfide, tungsten nitride, manganese dioxide, iron sulfide, silver oxide, nickel oxyhydroxide, and/or molybdenum nitride. The catalyst comprises hydrofluoric acid, where the molar ratio of the hydrofluoric acid relative to the sol-gel precursor is increased to increase an average pore size. It comprises hydrofluoric acid and a second acid of hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, formic acid, acetic acid, or citric acid. The second electrode of asymmetric ultracapacitor is derived from a sol-gel derived monolith comprising an open pore network coated or partially filled with a material of ruthenium oxide, molybdenum oxide, molybdenum nitride, molybdenum sulfide, tungsten oxide, tungsten nitride, tungsten sulfide, manganese dioxide, iron sulfide, silver oxide, and/or nickel oxyhydroxide, or poly(3-methylthiophene). Preferred Method: The coating of the surface of the open core network may involve depositing a conductive metal, metal oxide, metal sulfide or metal nitride on the surface using chemical vapor deposition or atomic layer deposition; or impregnating the open pore network with a colloidal solution of a metal and/or metal oxide, drying the monolith to remove liquid from the colloidal solution and coalescing the metal and/or metal oxide particles together to form the conductive electrode surface.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Component: The conductive material comprises graphite, graphite-like material, graphene, graphene-like material, or carbon. The conductive material is carbon derived from the polymerization and carbonization of carbon precursor material(s) of furfural, furfuryl alcohol, polyfurfuryl alcohol, resorcinol formaldehyde, sucrose and/or glucose. Preferred Method: The surface of the open pore network is coated with the conductive material by synthesizing a graphite layer or graphite-like layer on the surface. The graphite-like layer is formed by polymerizing resorcinol and formaldehyde in situ in the open pore network and sintering the resulting polymer to form the graphite-like layer. The open pore network may be partially filled by impregnating the open network of pores with the carbon precursor material and converting the carbon precursor material into a conductive carbon material by polymerization and carbonization of the carbon precursor material in the open network of pores.