A three-dimensional carbon electrode derived from bean sprout for supercapacitors

Abstract

Conventional carbon materials have been widely used in electrochemical field, but the capacitance and energy density are not ideal. Herein, a plant bean sprout as carbon source and cerium nitrate as the catalyst precursor are intended to prepare electrode materials 3DPCS-x for high-performance supercapacitors. The 3DPCS-x is confirmed to be three-dimensional network and graphitic structure by FESEM and HR-TEM, and doped by heteroatom including N, O, and Ce elements. Among them, 3DPCS-700 exhibits excellent electrochemical performances with gravimetric capacitance reaches 421 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 and capacitance retention maintains 96.2% after 10,000 cycles. In addition, the capacitance of the 3DPCS-700 symmetric SC is 245 F g−1 at 1.5 A g−1 and the maximum energy density is 5.44 Wh Kg−1 at the power density of 300 W kg−1. Our work offers a powerful and sustainable pathway to link biological manner and energy storage beyond the scope of traditional synthetic chemistry.