Synthesis of porous carbon honeycomb structures derived from hemp for hybrid supercapacitors with improved electrochemistry

Abstract

Energy storage in electrochemical hybrid capacitors involves fast faradaic reactions such as an intercalation, or redox process occurring at a solid electrode surface at an appropriate potential. Hybrid sodium‐ion electrochemical capacitors bring the advantages of both the high specific power of capacitors and the high specific energy of batteries, where activated carbon serves as a critical electrode material. The charge storage in activated carbon arises from an adsorption process rather than a redox reaction and is an electrical double‐layer capacitor. Advanced carbon materials with interconnecting porous structures possessing high surface area and high conductivity are the prerequisites 1128to qualify for efficient energy storage. Herein, we have demonstrated that a porous honeycomb structure activated carbon derived from Australian hemp hurd (Cannabis sativa L.) in aqueous Na2SO4 electrolyte showed a specific capacitance of 240 F/g at 1 A/g. The mass ratio of biochar to KOH during the chemical activation associated with the synthesis temperature influences the change in morphologies, and distribution of pore sizes on the adsorption of ions. At higher synthesis temperatures, the tubular form of the honeycomb starts to disintegrate. The hybrid sodium‐ion device employing hemp‐derived activated carbon (HAC) coupled with electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) in an aqueous Na2SO4 electrolyte showed a specific capacitance of 95 F/g at 1 A/g having a capacitance retention of 90 %. The hybrid device (HAC||EMD) can possess excellent electrochemical performance metrics, having a high energy density of 38 Wh/kg at a power density of 761 W/kg. Overall, this study provides insights into the influence of the activation temperature and the KOH impregnation ratio on morphology, porosity distribution, and the activated carbon's electrochemical properties with faster kinetics. The high cell voltage for the device is devoted to the EMD electrode. © 2024 The Author(s). ChemPlusChem published by Wiley-VCH GmbH. Open Access CC BY-NC 4.0.