Wang K., Gu Z., Fan Q.
South Dakota State University, US
Keywords: activation, biomass, porous carbon, supercapacitor
This work shows that N-doped carbon can be derived from pyrrole modified biomass-lignin. Simultaneous chemical and physical activation using potassium hydroxide during the heat treatment can effectively create porous N-doped carbon. The activated carbon possesses cheese-like morphology with large specific surface area of 2661 m2 g-1 and mesopores of ~15 nm. Benefited from these characteristics, EDLCs prepared using the N-doped porous activated carbon show high specific capacitance of 248 F g-1 at low current density of 0.1 A g-1 and 211 F g-1 at high current density of 10 A g-1 in 6 M KOH solution. The EDLCs also exhibit excellent cycle stability for continuous 1,000 cycles at different current densities. This work indicates that the pyrrol-modified KOH-activated lignin is a promising electrode material for EDLCs.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 2, Materials for Energy, Efficiency and Sustainability: TechConnect Briefs 2016
Published: May 22, 2016
Pages: 183 - 186
Industry sectors: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing | Energy & Sustainability
Topic: Biofuels & Bioproducts
ISBN: 978-0-9975-1171-0