Porous carbon derived from Zea mays cobs as excellent electrodes for supercapacitor applications

Abstract

Improving the efficiency of the electrode materials is critical for achieving high performance in supercapacitors. Porous carbon with appropriate designs is dependable for better electrochemical capacitors. In this work, we improved Zea mays (maize) cobs as a potentially plentiful precursor for generating porous carbon supercapacitor applications. The physical and chemical properties of the synthesized materials were determined using several approaches, including structure, morphology, chemical composition, and electrochemical performance. The chemical analyses revealed an oxygen-based surface structure, while structural analysis revealed a BET-specific surface area of 1443.94 m3/g and a pore volume of 0.7915 cm3/g. Symmetric devices based on the materials generated had a specific capacitance of 358.7F/g, an energy density of 12.45 Wh/kg and a power density of 250 W/kg at 0.5A/g. The as-prepared electrodes demonstrated exceptional stability, with a capacitance retention of 99% at the maximum potential for a total of 130 hours of testing.