Abstract:
Porous materials particularly, nano-porous carbons are well known because of having high
specific surface area (SSA), different pore dimensions, inherent excellent conductance, low
density, and highly available. The most effective source of cheap, plentiful, and environmentally
safe precursors for nano-porous carbon, which are then used in energy storage technologies
like high-performance symmetric supercapacitors, has been found to be ‘biowaste/biomass’.
This study compares two different biowastes-derived porous carbons such as wood and maize
cobs using a straightforward one-step pyrolysis and potassium hydroxide (KOH) activation
method for use in symmetric supercapacitors. Using XRD, SEM-EDX, FTIR, TGA, and
subsequent CV, GCD, EIS, and cycle stability testing, the microstructures, morphology, and
comparative study on electrochemical performance of resulting activated carbons were
analyzed. The prepared carbon electrode made from maize cobs and wood scraps exhibits an
electrical conductivity of 535.75 F.g-1
and 135.64 F.g-1
at 5 A.g-1
in a 6 M KOH electrolyte as
a result. The samples also showed a remarkable cycling stability of 99.81 % and 97.67 % at 10 k
cycles. In conclusion, the higher electrochemical behavior of carbon material made from maize
cobs in comparison to wood scraps can be due to the combination of a high specific surface
area with a large number of mesopores/micropores and a highly stable structure
