Cornstarch as a green binder in supercapacitors: Understanding the effect of binder on the charge storage mechanism

This study used a scalable process to fabricate activated carbon (AC) supercapacitor electrodes with cornstarch as a green binder. A vital aspect of this study was comparing its performance with synthetic binders like polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and Nafion. The chemical and physical properties of the AC were characterized using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM). Water contact angle measurements evaluated the hydrophilicity of AC-based electrodes with different binders. Their electrochemical characteristics were studied using open circuit potential (OCP), cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanic charge/discharge (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 1 M NaSO4 electrolyte, and the charge storage mechanism was discussed in detail. The starch binder significantly facilitated the charge storage mechanism by suppressing diffusion limitations compared to other binders. The fabricated symmetric supercapacitor device of starch-based electrodes exhibited the highest C_s of 120 F/g at a specific current of 1 A g^-1 with a high energy density of 135 Wh/kg and an exact power density of 750 W/kg. The starch-based supercapacitor device exhibited a capacitance retention of 104 % and 65.5 % at specific currents of 2 A g^-1 and 10 A g^-1 after 10,000 cycles of charging/discharging, respectively.