Preparation and application of a novel supercapacitor from chemically activated red calliandra

Abstract

In recent years, supercapacitors have been incorporated into hypercar units, making them more attractive to researchers. The exploration and development of low-cost supercap components are investigated for mass production preparation. The current study reveals an activated carbon-based supercapacitor from a novel biomass red calliandra. The activated carbon was chemically produced at 800 for 60 min in a pilot-scale tubular electric reactor with a capacity of 3 kg. Previously, the raw was soaked by phosphate (H) and ammonium (NH) compounds for 18 h. Activated carbon was then used to assemble the supercapacitor with the respective active slurry composition: activated carbon, conductive carbon, adhesive 80:10:10 (w/w), and LiPF₆ electrolyte. The products were characterised by proximate, ultimate, iodine adsorption, surface area analyser, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectrum, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and Galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD). H-activated carbon is hygroscopic and exhibits a crystalline structure, while NH-activated carbon has the highest adsorption and surface area of 757 mg/g and 627 m²/g. CV and GCD agreed to establish the H-supercap as the best prototype by exhibiting specific capacitances of 146 and 167 F/g. Comparative studies were further summarised to evaluate a novel species among the previous raws and the suitability of the preferred activated carbon characteristics for supercapacitor fabrication. The results crowned the red calliandra species at a decent rank among them and were suitable for sustainable green campaigns.