High performance of supercapacitor based on alumina nanoparticles derived from Coca-Cola cans

Abstract

It is now certain that all countries of the world face very serious problems in the process of solid waste management; most of these wastes like aluminum cans are discarded, which is considered as one of the most environmental pollutants. So, one of the most important techniques that could manage the aluminum cans wastes is recycling process, which offer exceptional benefits in terms of cost-effectiveness, decrease the waste volumes and energy savings. In this research, aluminum can waste converted to alumina nanoparticles (NPs) with many crystalline structures using sol-gel technique then calcined at different calcination temperature (550, 750, 1000, and 1200 °C). The prepared alumina was characterized by numerous methods like XRD, TEM, SEM, EDX, FTIR, and BET. The exceptional properties obtained from this study proves the opportunity of manufacturing alumina from can wastes and testified as an exceptional supercapacitor. The electrochemical performance of the prepared alumina nanoparticles was measured using cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charging and discharging (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements in an aqueous solution of 2.0 M Na2SO4 as an electrolyte. Alumina NPs calcined at 1000 °C displayed exceptional specific capacitance with value of 1297 F. g−1 at 0.7 A. g−1, with retention 92.7 % of its initial specific capacitance even after 5000 cycles.