Conversion of high moisture biomass to hierarchical porous carbon via molten base carbonisation and activation for electrochemical double layer capacitor

Egun, Ishioma Laurene; Akinwolemiwa, Bamidele; Yin, Bo; Tian, Hai; He, Haiyong; Fow, Kam Loon; Zhang, Honglei; Chen, George Z; Hu, Di

Abstract

Biomass-derived carbon for supercapacitors faces the challenge of achieving hierarchical porous carbon with graphitic structure and specific heteroatoms through a single-stage thermal process that minimises resource input. Herein, molten base carbonisation and activation is proposed. The process utilises the inherent moisture of Moso bamboo shoots, coupled with a low amount of KOH, to form potassium organic salts before drying. The resultant potassium salts promote in-situ activation during single-stage heating process, yielding hierarchical porous, large specific surface area, and partially graphitised carbon with heteroatoms (N, O). As an electrode material, this carbon exhibits a specific capacitance of 327F g−1 in 6 M KOH and 182F g−1 in 1 M TEABF4/AN, demonstrating excellent cycling stability over 10,000 cycles at 2 A/g. Overall, this study presents a straightforward process that avoids pre-drying of biomass, minimises base consumption, and employs single-stage heating to fabricate electrode carbon suitable for supercapacitors.

Citation

Egun, I. L., Akinwolemiwa, B., Yin, B., Tian, H., He, H., Fow, K. L., Zhang, H., Chen, G. Z., & Hu, D. (2024). Conversion of high moisture biomass to hierarchical porous carbon via molten base carbonisation and activation for electrochemical double layer capacitor. Bioresource Technology, 409, 131251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2024.131251

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 7, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Aug 8, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-10
• Deposit Date: Aug 15, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 15, 2024
• Journal: Bioresource Technology
• Print ISSN: 0960-8524
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-2976
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 409
• Article Number: 131251
• Pages: 131251
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2024.131251
• Keywords: Bamboo shoots, Specific surface area, Graphitic, Ultra micropores, Potassium ion, Capacitance, Heteroatoms
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/38379648
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960852424009556?via%3Dihub