0D-3D Superstructure of Biocarbon with FeCl3-Assisted for Electrochemical Symmetrical Supercapacitor

Abstract

Biomass materials exhibit a diversity of macrostructures that can be derived or developed into various 0D-3D nanoscale structural designs with various different dimensions such as spherical, nanofiber, tubular, nanosheet, hierarchical, nanosphere, and honeycomb structures, when converted into activated carbon. This research converts oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber biomass into supercapacitor carbon material by optimizing the chemical activation process by varying the activating reagent. The active carbon conversion process includes precarbonization stages, chemical activation (KOH, FeCl3, and ZnCl2), carbonization, and physical activation. The resulting electrode was confirmed to have a morphology with a 0D to 3D structure (nanosphere, nanofiber and nanopore) due to the FeCl3 activator, so the resulting surface area was high (517.998 m/g). Biomass was successfully converted into carbon which was confirmed through through the resulting physical and electrochemical properties. The electrochemical performance of the sample supercapacitor cell was analyzed in a symmetric two-electrode system in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte solution. The FeCl3-activated samples shows the highest specific capacitance of 256 F/g at a scan rate of 1 mV/s. In addition, oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber biomass is a potential raw material, as a carbon material for supercapacitor cells with high performance.