The changing structure by component: Biomass-based porous carbon for high-performance supercapacitors

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Renewable Energy

Background:

• Biomass-derived porous carbons are promising for energy storage.
• Controlling precursor composition is key to optimizing carbon structure and performance.
• Existing methods often lack efficiency or scalability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a simple and efficient method for preparing biomass-based porous carbon.
• To investigate the effect of raw material component content on carbon structure and performance.
• To demonstrate the potential of the synthesized material in energy storage devices.

Main Methods:

• Adjusting the content of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and extractives in raw biomass materials.
• Utilizing bagasse with a fiber tubular structure as a carbon precursor.
• Synthesizing hierarchical porous carbon (BHPC-4) through a tailored activation process.

Main Results:

• BHPC-4 achieved a high specific surface area (SSA) of 3135 m² g⁻¹, significantly higher than the control sample (2484 m² g⁻¹).
• The BHPC-4 electrode exhibited a capacitance of 410.5 F g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹ with 100% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles in 6.0 M KOH.
• Aqueous symmetrical supercapacitors using BHPC-4 achieved an energy density of 25.6 Wh kg⁻¹ at 226 W kg⁻¹.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method effectively produces high-porosity biomass-based carbon materials.
• Optimizing precursor composition leads to enhanced structural properties and electrochemical performance.
• This approach offers a versatile route for developing advanced carbon materials for energy storage and conversion applications.