Abstract: Two mesoporous carbons were prepared by simple pyrolysis of commercial magnesium or barium citrate and tested as electrode materials for electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs), denoted MgC and BaC, respectively. The as-prepared carbon materials were characterized by N₂ adsorption, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. Nitrogen adsorption measurements demonstrated that the porosity of the prepared carbons was related to the type of metal cation. BaC possesses a typical bimodal pore size distribution (PSD) at 3. 8 and about 15nm, while MgC was between smallsize mesoporous and microporous. The carbons were tested as electrode materials using different electrochemical means such as cyclic voltammetry and constant current charge-discharge. Very high specific capacitance (180F · g^-1 for MgC and 171F · g-¹ for BaC) was achieved in an ionic liquid electrolyte. BaC proved to be an excellent electrode material with a high rate performance for EDLC application and exhibited an energy density up to 53. 3Wh · kg^-1 and a high maximum specific power density of 20kW · kg^-1 in IL electrolyte. The good capacitive performance of BaC is attributed to its bimodal PSD and hydrophilic surface properties.