Flexible Type Symmetric Supercapacitor Electrode Fabrication Using Phosphoric Acid-Activated Carbon Nanomaterials Derived from Cow Dung for Renewable Energy Applications

Jothi Ramalingam Rajabathar; Manoharan Sivachidambaram; J Judith Vijaya; Hamad A Al-Lohedan; Dhaifallah M D Aldhayan

doi:10.1021/acsomega.0c00848

Flexible Type Symmetric Supercapacitor Electrode Fabrication Using Phosphoric Acid-Activated Carbon Nanomaterials Derived from Cow Dung for Renewable Energy Applications

ACS Omega. 2020 Jun 22;5(25):15028-15038. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.0c00848. eCollection 2020 Jun 30.

Authors

Jothi Ramalingam Rajabathar¹, Manoharan Sivachidambaram^{2

3}, J Judith Vijaya², Hamad A Al-Lohedan¹, Dhaifallah M D Aldhayan¹

Affiliations

¹ Surfactant Research Chair, Chemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
² Catalysis Nanomaterials and Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Loyola College, Chennai 600034, Tamilnadu, India.
³ Department of Chemistry, Theivanai Ammal College for Women, Villupuram 605602, Tamilnadu, India.

Abstract

Porous-activated carbon (PAC) materials have been playing a vital role in meeting the challenges of the ever-increasing demand for alternative clean and sustainable energy technologies. In the present scenario, a facile approach is suggested to produce hierarchical PAC at different activation temperatures in the range of 600 to 900 °C by using cow dung (CD) waste as a precursor, and H₃PO₄ is adopted as the nonconventional activating agent to obtain large surface area values. The as-prepared cow dung-based PAC (CDPAC) is graphitic in nature with mixed micro- and mesoporous textures. High-resolution scanning electron microscopy depicts the morphology of CDPAC as nanoporous structures with a uniform arrangement. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals spherical carbon dense nanoparticles with dense tiny spherical carbon particles. N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms show a very high specific surface area of 2457 m²/g for the CDPAC 9 (CD 9) sample with a large pore volume of 1.965 cm³/g. Electrochemical measurements of the CD 9 sample show a good specific capacitance (C _s) of 347 F/g at a lower scan rate (5 mV/s) with improved cyclic stability, which is run up to 5000 cycles at a low current density (0.5 A/g). Hence, we choose an activated carbon prepared at 900 °C to fabricate the modified electrode material. In this regard, a flexible type symmetric supercapacitor device was fabricated, and the electrochemical test results show a supercapacitance value (C _s) of 208 F/g.