Isinglass as an Alternative Biopolymer Membrane for Green Electrochemical Devices: Initial Studies of Application in Electric Double-Layer Capacitors and Future Perspectives

Abstract

The presented work discusses in detail the preparation of a cheap and environmentally friendly biopolymer membrane from isinglass and its physicochemical characterisation. One of the possible uses of the obtained membrane can be as a separator between electrodes in novel green electrochemical devices as in, for example, electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs). The functionality of the mentioned membrane was investigated and demonstrated by classical electrochemical techniques such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic cycling with potential limitation (GCPL), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The obtained values of capacitance (approximately 30 F g−1) and resistance (approximately. 3 Ohms), as well as the longevity of the EDLC during electrochemical floating at a voltage of 1.6 V (more than 200 h), show that the proposed biopolymer membrane could be an interesting alternative among the more environmentally friendly energy storage devices, while additionally it could be more economically justified.