Synthesis and characterization of activated carbon from natural fibres for supercapacitor application

• Main Author: Thilageshwaran A / l Subramaniam
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Kenaf; Activated carbon; Supercapacitor

In this thesis paper, the fabrication of supercapacitor using natural fibres as a precursor was studied. The natural fibre used in this study is kenaf fibre. Kenaf fibre is used as a precursor for the synthesis of activated carbon to become the active material of the supercapacitor produced in this study. This study is done to develop a new type electrode for supercapacitor application which is carbon based by using kenaf as a precursor. From the usage of natural fibres as active material, supercapacitors which are low cost, light in weight , high efficiency, reliable and longer lasting stability can be produced. The active material was synthesized from kenaf in powder form using chemical activation using potassium hydroxide (KOH). 3 Samples From the 3 samples done at 3 different activation temperatures. It was found that 800°C is the optimal temperature for kenaf fibres to be activated. This is because AC-800 produced the highest specific capacitance of compared to AC-900 and AC-700 although AC-900 appeared more porous in Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). All the samples showed the properties of activated carbon based on the Raman Spectroscopy. The electrochemical testing was performed using 6M Potassium Hydroxide solution as electrolyte. The specific capacitance value of the samples are 91 Fg-1, 100 Fg-1 and 76 Fg-1 for AC-700, AC-800 and AC-900 respectively. The charge retention of AC-800 at 5 Ag-1, is 85% after 2000 cycles.