Activated Carbon as Electrode Materials for Supercapacitors

Abstract

Activated carbon is one of the most versatile materials used as an electrode material for supercapacitor applications. The preparation of activated carbon from various biomasses has attracted the attention of the scientific community in recent days. The synthesis of activated carbon from biowaste exhibits varieties of morphologies and surface textures. Carbonization and activation are the main steps for the synthesis of activated carbon. Due to the tuneable pore sizes and high specific surface area as compared to other carbonaceous material, activated carbon has been widely used as electrode material for supercapacitor applications. The high surface area, hierarchical pore structure, and different morphology enable the formation of a bilayer of ions at the electrode-electrolyte interfaces. Again, the inherent doping of heteroatoms from biomass additionally contributes via pseudocapacitance. The presence of oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur functionalities promotes the diffusion of ions, enhances the conductivity and wettability at the carbon surface. This also helps to improve the overall performance of the activated carbon to be utilized as electrode material for supercapacitor applications.