Activated carbon is prepared by a two stage process with H3PO4 activating agent using the precursor material Borassus flabellifer flower as an electrode material for supercapacitors.
Porous-activated
carbon (PAC) materials have been playing a vital
role in meeting the challenges of the ever-increasing demand for alternative
clean and sustainable energy technologies. In the present scenario,
a facile approach is suggested to produce hierarchical PAC at different
activation temperatures in the range of 600 to 900 °C by using
cow dung (CD) waste as a precursor, and H3PO4 is adopted as the nonconventional activating agent to obtain large
surface area values. The as-prepared cow dung-based PAC (CDPAC) is
graphitic in nature with mixed micro- and mesoporous textures. High-resolution
scanning electron microscopy depicts the morphology of CDPAC as nanoporous
structures with a uniform arrangement. High-resolution transmission
electron microscopy reveals spherical carbon dense nanoparticles with
dense tiny spherical carbon particles. N2 adsorption–desorption
isotherms show a very high specific surface area of 2457 m2/g for the CDPAC 9 (CD 9) sample with a large pore volume of 1.965
cm3/g. Electrochemical measurements of the CD 9 sample
show a good specific capacitance (C
s)
of 347 F/g at a lower scan rate (5 mV/s) with improved cyclic stability,
which is run up to 5000 cycles at a low current density (0.5 A/g).
Hence, we choose an activated carbon prepared at 900 °C to fabricate
the modified electrode material. In this regard, a flexible type symmetric
supercapacitor device was fabricated, and the electrochemical test
results show a supercapacitance value (C
s) of 208 F/g.
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