Phytoplankton derived and KOH activated mesoporous carbon materials for supercapacitors

• Published in: Materials letters 2017-10, Vol.205, p.98-101
• Main Authors: Shen, Liuxue, Liu, Xiaohong, Ou, Linjian, Wang, Zilong, Tan, Shaozao, Mai, Wenjie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Capacitance; Electrodes; High specific surface area; Materials science; Phytoplankton; Phytoplankton-derived carbon; Plankton; Studies; Supercapacitors; Surface area
• ISSN: 0167-577X; 1873-4979
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2017.06.039

•High performance carbon-based electrode materials were successfully synthesized from phytoplankton.•This study considers both energy and environmental issues.•Fabricated device demonstrates pretty good electrochemical performance and prominent cycling stability. An activated phytoplankton-derived carbon (APDC) based material was successfully synthesized from phytoplankton for the first time via a simple and low-cost method, to the best of our knowledge. The specific surface area (SBET) value of APDC is as high as 482m2g−1. In addition, the as-prepared APDC-based supercapacitor (SC) electrode displays high area capacitance of 130mFcm−2 at the current density of 2mAcm−2, and the SC device based on APDC electrode reveals good capacitance performance and prominent cycling stability (92% retention after 10,000 cycles), demonstrating a promising application for SCs. The high supercapacitor performance is attributed to the KOH activation process which brings higher surface area and mesoporous structure.