Biochar for Supercapacitor Electrodes: Mechanisms in Aqueous Electrolytes

Utilizing biomass materials containing rich carbon-oxygen/nitrogen functional groups as precursors for synthesizing carbon materials is a promising strategy for energy storage and conversion applications. Porous biomass carbon materials are commonly used as the electric-double-layer capacitors in aqueous electrolytes. However, detailed kinetic analysis and energy storage mechanisms are seldom discussed and clarified. In this work, starch powders are modified with tunable nitrogen/oxygen functional groups during the KOH activation process to produce porous carbon. The kinetics and energy storage mechanism of this kind of material in acid and alkaline aqueous electrolyte are uncovered by in-situ ATR-IR in a three-electrode configuration.

Keywords: Biomass carbon, Electrode, Supercapacitor, In-situ ATR-IR

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Li, Wenyao and Ma, Caiyu and Cheng, Haiyun and Li, Zhuangnan and He, Guanjie, Biochar for Supercapacitor Electrodes: Mechanisms in Aqueous Electrolytes. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4356107 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4356107