Human Hair Derived Heteroatoms Doped Porous Carbon Electrodes for Supercapacitors: Electrolytes Comparison Study

Abstract

Owing to the high specific surface area, and adjustable pore size distribution, biowaste derived activated carbon (AC) has lately arouse the interest of the researchers in supercapacitor applications. Herein, we employ human hair derived heteroatoms doped porous activated carbon for supercapacitor applications. The electrochemical performance of the as produced material was evaluated in three different electrolytes: basic (6M KOH), neutral (1M Na2SO4), and acidic (1M H2SO4), with the 1M H2SO4 showing higher performance, suggesting excellent compatibility with acidic electrolyte. Surface and diffusion charge contribution examination of the AC sample in various electrolytes supports this conclusion. When compared to 6M KOH (37.5%) and 1M Na2SO4 (67.5%) electrolytes, 1M H2SO4 (79%) electrolyte exhibits better diffusion charge contribution, resulting in the maximum specific capacitance of 274 F/g at 1 A/g. Moreover, the as fabricated all-solid-state symmetric supercapacitor device delivered remarkable energy density of 47.4 Wh/kg at a power output of 1642.8 W/kg, as well as a long cycle life of 87% after 10000 charge-discharge cycles. As a consequence, this astonishing finding pave the way for the use of various biowastes for a variety of applications for energy storage.