Partially graphitic nanoporous activated carbon prepared from biomass for supercapacitor application

• Published in: Materials letters Vol. 218; pp. 165 - 168
• Main Authors: Gunasekaran, Sivagaami Sundari, Elumalali, Senthil Kumar, Kumaresan, Thileep Kumar, Meganathan, Ramya, Ashok, Ashwini, Pawar, Varsha, Vediappan, Kumaran, Ramasamy, Gnanamuthu, Karazhanov, Smagul Zh, Raman, Kalaivani, Subashchandra Bose, Raghu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-05-2018; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Bagasse; Bamboo; Biomass; Carbonaceous materials; Carbonization; Chemical properties; Energy storage; Energy storage materials; Fourier transforms; Gas flow; Graphene; Gravimetric analysis; Iron cyanides; Materials science; Organic chemistry; Scanning electron microscopy; Supercapacitor; Supercapacitors; Temperature; Thermal analysis; Transmission electron microscopy; X-ray diffraction; Carbonization; Supercapacitor; Energy storage materials; Graphene
• ISSN: 0167-577X; 1873-4979
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2018.01.172

•First time reported partially graphitic nanoporous carbon derived from biomass.•The capacitance of carbon-F was found to be 173.2 F g−1, 164 F g−1, 156 F g−1 and 148 F g−1.•The carbon-F has energy density 12.8 Wh kg−1, 12.2 Wh kg−1, 12.1 Wh kg−1 and 12.6 Wh kg−1.•The carbon and carbon-F was found to have retention of 89% and 95%.
In this present work, the preparation of partially graphitic nanoporous carbon from biomass (bamboo bagasse) is carried out using potassium ferrocyanide and -KOH as activating agent with controlled temperature and gas flow rates. The physico-chemical properties of biomass-derived graphitic nano-porous carbon were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), Raman spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and electrochemical measurements. It is interesting that the activation with the iron salts plays a significant role in the formation of graphitic structures. The graphitic nanoporous carbonaceous materials show high specific surface area of 1360 m2 g−1, low impedance, large pore volume and high specific capacitance. Thus, the iron-catalyzed graphitic carbon is excellent candidate for the supercapacitor applications. This contemporary- novel method to synthesis of nanoporous carbon represents a great potential for apparent and diversified applications in energy storage materials.