One-pot preparation of highly porous paddy waste derived-cellulose-silica nanocomposite membrane separator for advanced performances of supercapacitor

• Published in: Cellulose (London) 2023-02, Vol.30 (3), p.1637-1656
• Main Authors: Islam, Md. Asadul, Ong, Hui Lin, Sezali, Nur Atirah Afifah, Villagracia, Al Rey, Tran, Hai Linh, Yeh, Chih-Yi, Tsai, Cheng-Kuo, Doong, Ruey-an
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bioorganic Chemistry; Capacitance; Cellulose; Ceramics; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composites; Glass; Ion currents; Membranes; Nanocomposites; Nanoparticles; Natural Materials; Operating temperature; Organic Chemistry; Original Research; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Separators; Silicon dioxide; Supercapacitors; Sustainable Development; Tetraethyl orthosilicate; Thermal degradation
• ISSN: 0969-0239; 1572-882X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10570-022-04979-8

A new strategy was demonstrated to produce cellulose nanofibril-silica (CNF–SiO 2 ) nanocomposite membrane separator for supercapacitor by one-pot synthesis of silica (SiO 2 ) nanoparticles using different contents of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) precursor (0.9, 1.8, 2.7, 3.6 wt%). With the SiO 2 nanoparticles acting as the disassembling agent, a highly porous CNF–SiO 2 nanocomposite membrane was prepared using a simple solvent casting method. The CNF–SiO 2 nanocomposite membrane with 1.8 wt% TEOS content (CNF-C2), exhibited the best properties with high porosity of 61%, electrolyte uptake ability of 260% and ionic conductivity of 5.0 mS cm − 1 . Besides, the maximum thermal degradation temperature (T max ) of the CNF–SiO 2 nanocomposite membrane increased from 300 ℃ to 322 ℃, making it suitable for use within the operating temperatures of a supercapacitor. A symmetric supercapacitor assembled with CNF-C2 separator achieved the highest specific capacitance of 179.0 F g − 1 at 0.1 A g − 1 and energy density of 35.8 Wh kg − 1 at a power density of 240.0 W kg − 1 . This CNF–SiO 2 nanocomposite membrane helped the supercapacitor to achieve excellent electrochemical stability after 10,000 charge-discharge cycles with a capacitance retention and coulombic efficiency of 98.3% and 95.0%, respectively. The presented results proved that the CNF–SiO 2 nanocomposite membrane is a good alternative separator in the supercapacitor application. Graphical abstract