Development of Low-Cost DDGS-Based Activated Carbons and Their Applications in Environmental Remediation and High-Performance Electrodes for Supercapacitors

Abstract

A one-step, facile method to produce 3-dimensional porous activated carbons (ACs) from corn residual dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) by microwave-assisted chemical activation was developed. The ACs’ application potentials in dye removal and supercapacitor electrodes were also demonstrated. The porous structure and surface properties of the ACs were characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the surface area of the as-prepared ACs was up to 1000 m2/g. In the dye removal tests, these DDGS-based ACs exhibited a maximum adsorption ratio of 477 mg/g on methylene blue. In electric double layer capacitors, electrochemical tests indicated that the ACs had ideal capacitive and reversible behaviors and exhibited excellent electrochemical performance. The specific capacitance varied between 120 and 210 F/g under different scan rates and current densities. In addition, the capacitors showed excellent stability even after one thousand charge–discharge cycles. The specific capacitance was further increased up to 300 F/g by in situ synthesis of MnO2 particles in the ACs to induce pseudo-capacitance. This research showed that the DDGS-based ACs had great potentials in environmental remediation and energy storage applications.