High Surface Area Nanoporous Graphitic Carbon Materials Derived from Lapsi Seed with Enhanced Supercapacitance

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Renewable Energy

Background:

• Agro-waste valorization is crucial for sustainable materials development.
• Electrochemical supercapacitors require high-performance, cost-effective electrode materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize nanoporous carbon from Lapsi seed agro-waste.
• To evaluate the electrochemical supercapacitance performance of these derived carbon materials.

Main Methods:

• Chemical activation of Lapsi seed agro-waste using zinc chloride (ZnCl2) at 700 °C.
• Material characterization using pXRD, Raman, FTIR, SEM, and TEM.
• Electrochemical testing in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte.

Main Results:

• High surface area (931–2272 m2 g-1) and pore volume (0.998–2.845 cm3 g-1) nanoporous carbon materials were obtained.
• Specific capacitance reached 284 F g-1 at 1 A g-1, with 67.7% retention at 20 A g-1.
• Excellent cycle stability with 99% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles was demonstrated.

Conclusions:

• Lapsi seed-derived nanoporous carbons are promising low-cost electrode materials for high-performance supercapacitors.
• The materials' properties, including high surface area and interconnected mesopores, contribute to excellent electrochemical performance.
• This study highlights the potential of agro-waste utilization in advanced energy storage applications.