Hierarchical porous biochar derived from cotinus coggygria flower by using a novel composite activator for supercapacitors

• Published in: Chemical physics letters 2020-05, Vol.747, p.137325, Article 137325
• Main Authors: Li, Yanhong, Zhang, Xin, Deng, Jiaying, Yang, Xiaheng, Wang, Jinlong, Wang, Yanzhi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomaterials; Composite activator; Cotinus coggygria flowers; Energy storage and conversion; Hierarchical porous
• ISSN: 0009-2614; 1873-4448
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2020.137325

[Display omitted] •The hierarchical porous biochar has been prepared from cotinus coggygria flower.•A novel composite activator has been developed to synthesize the biochar.•The biochar delivers the high specific capacitance in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte.•The biochar exhibits the stable cycling performance in 6 M KOH electrolyte. Hierarchical porous biochar with large BET surface area of 959.04 cm2 g−1 was synthesized by using a novel composite activator from cotinus coggygria flowers. The biochar delivers excellent specific capacitance of 413.5 F g−1 at current density of 0.5 A g−1 in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte and a well reversible capacitance of 279.9 F g−1 at current density of 5 A g−1 in 6 M KOH electrolyte after 36,000 cycles. The excellent specific capacitance and the stable cycling performance benefit from the synergism of the composite activator. This provides a meaningful reference for the synthesis of supercapacitor biomaterials.