A rational template carbonization method has been implemented to produce nanoporous carbon as high performance supercapacitor electrode material. Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC) acts as carbon source, and inexpensiveMg(OAc)(2)center dot 4H(2)O and Zn(OAc)(2)center dot 2H(2)O as templates. It reveals that the carbonization temperature and the mass ratio of NaCMC, Mg(OAc)2-4F120 and Zn(OAc)(2)-2H(2)O are crucial for determining the carbon structure. The NaCMC-Mg-Zn-1:5:0.5 sample displays highly porous structure with large surface area (1596 m(2) g(-1)), pore volume (5.93 cm(3) g(-1)) and hierarchical pore size distribution. The carbon sample is measured in a two/three-electrode system, respectively. It has a high specific capacitance of 428.4 Fg(-1) at 1 A g(-1), together with nice cycling durability. A high energy density up to 68.6 Wh kg(-1) can be achieved as the power density of 1.5 kW kg(-1). The templates used in this work are cheap, commercially available and this template carbonization method, especially without any activation process, can be readily extended to prepare other kinds of nanoporous carbon. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.