Sulfonated polypropylene (S-PP) is prepared by sulfuric acid-acetone aldol condensation reaction of polypropylene (PP) separator to yield hydrophilic separator surface with a moderate amount of -SO3H groups. Activated carbon supercapacitor is also fabricated adopting the S-PP separator coated with potassium polyacrylate (PAAK) hydrogel polymer electrolyte. As a result, the hydrophilic surface of S-PP separator involves better physical and electrochemical properties such as decrease in contact angle, improvements of wettability, electrolyte uptake, and ionic conductivity to give higher specific capacitance and long cycle-life.