Development of activated carbon from bhang (Cannabis) stems for supercapacitor electrodes

Abstract

Here, we report high surface area nanoporous activated carbon (AC) derived from bhang (Cannabis) stems by H3PO4 activation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman scattering confirmed the formation of graphitic structure of the resulting AC, which also incorporate oxygen/nitrogen/sulfur-containing functional groups as confirmed by the XPS. The AC was studied as a supercapacitor electrode, and it exhibited a maximum specific capacitance of 160 F g−1at a current density of 0.5 A g−1 with a cyclic stability of 101 % after 3000 cycles. The obtained results suggest that the bhang stems, an abundantly found bio-waste, could be the potential precursor of nanoporous carbon for supercapacitors.