Controllable Preparation of Eucommia Wood-Derived Mesoporous Activated Carbon as Electrode Materials for...

Activated carbons (ACs) for supercapacitors were synthesized from Eucommia ulmoides Oliver (EUO) wood by H₃PO₄ with systemic activation processes. The target structure of ACs could be prepared by adjusting the technological parameters. As the H₃PO₄ concentration was 25%, the mass ratio of feedstocks to activator was 1:4, the activation time was 6 h, and the activation temperature was 400 °C, the obtained AC revealed a high specific surface area (2033.87 m²·g^-1) and well-developed mesoporous (the rate of mesoporous was 96.4%) with the best economic feasibility. Besides, it possessed excellent electrochemical performance: the maximum specific capacitance reached up to 252 F·g^-1, the charging and discharging period was 3098.2 s at 0.2 A·g^-1, and the retention rate of specific capacitance reached 92.3% after 10,000 cycles. This low temperature and convenience technology provide a valuable reference for synthesizing the EUO-based ACs, making high-value utilization on the EUO branches, and owning a broad application prospect in supercapacitors.