Flute-type porous carbon derived from soybean shells for high-performance all-solid-state symmetric supercapacitors

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Sustainable Energy

Background:

• Developing advanced electrode materials is crucial for high-performance energy storage devices.
• Utilizing biomass waste, like soybean shells, offers a sustainable route to novel carbon materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize flute-type porous carbon from soybean shells.
• To investigate the impact of mass ratio on the structure and electrochemical properties of the resulting porous carbon.
• To evaluate the performance of this porous carbon as an electrode material for supercapacitors.

Main Methods:

• Soybean shells were processed using convenient methods to create porous carbon.
• The mass ratio was varied to optimize the material's characteristics.
• Electrochemical performance was assessed using three-electrode systems and all-solid-state supercapacitor devices.

Main Results:

• The synthesized porous carbon exhibited a micro-tube morphology with a high specific surface area (2802 m² g⁻¹) and pore volume (1.36 cm³ g⁻¹).
• The optimal sample (SSAC4) demonstrated high specific capacitance (465 F g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹ and 287 F g⁻¹ at 20 A g⁻¹) in a 6 M KOH electrolyte.
• All-solid-state supercapacitors using SSAC4 achieved a capacitance of 294 F g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹ with 86.2% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles.

Conclusions:

• Flute-type porous carbon derived from soybean shells is a viable and sustainable electrode material for supercapacitors.
• The material's structure and electrochemical performance are significantly influenced by the synthesis mass ratio.
• The developed porous carbon exhibits excellent energy storage capabilities and cycling stability, suitable for practical applications.