A Green Approach to High-Performance Supercapacitor Electrodes: The Chemical Activation of Hydrochar with Potassium Bicarbonate

Abstract

Sustainable synthesis schemes for the production of porous carbons with appropriate textural properties for use as supercapacitor electrodes are in high demand. In this work a greener option to the widely used but corrosive KOH is proposed for the production of highly porous carbons. Hydrochar products are used as carbon precursors. It is demonstrated that a mild alkaline potassium salt such as potassium bicarbonate is very effective to generate porosity in hydrochar to lead to materials with large surface areas (> 2000 m(2) g(-1) ) and a tunable pore size distribution. Furthermore, the use of KHCO3 instead of KOH gives rise to a significant 10 % increase in the yield of activated carbon, and the spherical morphology of hydrochar is retained, which translates into better packing properties and reduced ion diffusion distances. These features lead to a supercapacitor performance that can compete with, and even surpass, that of KOH-activated hydrochar in a variety of electrolytes.

Keywords: biomass; carbon; mesoporous materials; microporous materials; potassium.