Activation of nipah fruit coir-derived carbon material with KOH and NH3 for supercapacitor cell applications

Abstract

Chemical impregnation is a simple and low-cost activated carbon activation method that can engineer the electrochemical properties of supercapacitor cell electrodes. The carbon material was derived from nipah fruit coir biomass by optimizing chemical activator reagents (without activating agents, KOH, NH3). The carbon material derived from nipah fruit coir is synthesized through of pre-carbonization, chemical activation, carbonization-activation physics in an integrated manner. The carbonization process uses N2 gas flow at a temperature of 600℃ with a flow rate of 1.5 l/min and a heating rate of 3ºC/min, as well as physical activation using CO2 gas at a temperature of 800°C with a flow rate of 1 l/min and a heating rate of 10ºC/min. Electrochemical properties were analyzed using Cyclic Voltametry (CV) and Galvanostatic Charge-Discharge (GCD) methods. The symmetrical supercapacitor based on SBN electrode material has an optimum specific capacitance of 224 Fg-1 at a scan rate of 1mV/s in an aqueous electrolyte (H2SO4 1M) operated at a potential of 1V. These results provide a clear, simple and easy synthesis strategy for the large-scale conversion of sustainable waste biomass into activated carbon materials for energy storage and conversion applications.