Aesculus indica-derived heteroatom-doped carbon as an electrode material for super-capacitor

Abstract

Energy storage for sustainable development and progress of power production industries is vitally important. The energy storage devices are under extensive research from last three decades to ensure the hand-on-hand coordination with power supply phenomenon and to reduce the energy loses in lines. The cost-effective materials are still highly demanding as an electrode material for energy storage devices. Biomass-derived carbon materials are best candidates due to their low cost, relatively high abundance, pollution-free nature. Here, we are reporting a facile two-step green approach to convert Himalayan horse chestnuts (HHCNs) into activated carbon materials. In first step, grinding and pyrolysis of the HHCNs were carried out, and then activation was performed using KOH to enhance the pore density and surface area. HHCNs-derived carbon was utilized as an electrode in electrical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) with 1 M H₂SO₄ as an electrolyte. The macro-porous structure along with hierarchical porous network acts as an efficient source of transportation of charges across the electrode and separator. Cyclic voltammetry test was taken from 10 to 100 mV/s current and within a range of 0–1 V applied potential; approximately rectangular CV shown mirror response towards current and shown typical EDLCs properties. The proximate analysis confirms the presence of heteroatoms like sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen which act as carbon dopants. The wettability of HHCNs-derived carbon enhanced due to the various types of oxygen functionalities inherited from the lignin skeletal part. The nitrogen content is primarily responsible for the pseudo-capacitive behavior of HHCNs-codoped carbon. HHCNs-derived activated carbon materials has emerged as a promising electrode material for energy storage applications.

Graphical abstract