Promising activated carbon derived from sugarcane tip as electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Renewable Energy

Background:

• Developing cost-effective electrode materials is crucial for advanced energy storage devices.
• Biomass-derived carbons offer a sustainable alternative to traditional materials.
• Sugarcane tips represent an abundant and underutilized agricultural waste stream.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simple, low-cost method for producing activated carbon from sugarcane tips.
• To evaluate the electrochemical performance of sugarcane-derived activated carbon in supercapacitors.
• To demonstrate the potential of agricultural waste as a precursor for high-performance energy storage materials.

Main Methods:

• Two-step pre-carbonization and KOH activation of sugarcane tips.
• Optimization of KOH to pre-carbonized sugarcane tip (PC-ST) mass ratio.
• Characterization of activated carbon (ACST-2) properties, including surface area and porosity.
• Electrochemical testing in a three-electrode system and symmetric supercapacitor configuration.

Main Results:

• Optimized ACST-2 exhibited a high surface area (1206.85 m²/g) with significant microporosity and oxygen content (17.04 wt%).
• ACST-2 demonstrated high specific capacitance (259 F/g at 0.5 A/g) and excellent rate capability (82.66% retention from 0.5 to 10 A/g).
• Symmetric supercapacitors achieved high energy density (7.93 Wh/kg) with superior cycling stability (89.6% retention after 5000 cycles).

Conclusions:

• Sugarcane tips can be effectively converted into high-performance activated carbon using a straightforward, cost-efficient method.
• The resulting ACST-2 material is a promising candidate for low-cost, high-performance supercapacitors.
• This research highlights the potential of valorizing agricultural waste for sustainable energy storage solutions.