4-8 July 2016
Kramer Law building
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
<a href="http://events.saip.org.za/internalPage.py?pageId=10&confId=86">The Proceedings of SAIP2016</a> published on 24 December 2017

Activated carbon derived from tree bark biomass for high performance electrochemical capacitors

8 Jul 2016, 09:40
20m
Kramer Law building

Kramer Law building

UCT Middle Campus Cape Town
Oral Presentation Track F - Applied Physics Applied Physics (1)

Speaker

Dr Damilola Momodu (UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA)

Main supervisor (name and email)<br>and his / her institution

Ncholu Manyala/Ncholu.Manyala@up.ac.za (University of Pretoria)

Apply to be<br> considered for a student <br> &nbsp; award (Yes / No)?

No

Would you like to <br> submit a short paper <br> for the Conference <br> Proceedings (Yes / No)?

No

Please indicate whether<br>this abstract may be<br>published online<br>(Yes / No)

Yes

Abstract content <br> &nbsp; (Max 300 words)<br><a href="http://events.saip.org.za/getFile.py/access?resId=0&materialId=0&confId=34" target="_blank">Formatting &<br>Special chars</a>

ABSTRACT
Activated carbon from tree bark (AC-B) has been synthesized by a facile and environmentally friendly activation and carbonization process at different temperatures (600, 700 and 800° C) using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an activation agent with different mass loading in an attempt to optimize the activation process in obtaining a uniformly porous material. The physicochemical characteristics of the as-obtained AC-B material were studied using scanning and (SEM), N2-adsorption/desorption measurements, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy etc. The microscopy results reveal an interconnected porous architecture with an ion-accessible surface required for fast ion transport. The BET specific surface area (SSA) obtained show an improved SSA with increasing carbonization temperature up to 1018 m2 g-1 and a high pore volume of 0.67 cm3 g-1 in the presence of active micro/mesopores. The electrochemical capability of the AC-B material was investigated as a potential supercapacitor device electrode in different neutral aqueous electrolytes (NaNO3, Na2SO4, and KCl) via different techniques such as cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge and impedance spectroscopy in a three (3) electrode configuration. The device electrode exhibited the best EDLC behaviour with the Na2SO4 electrolyte working in both positive and negative potential range. A specific capacitance of 155 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g was obtained for the AC-B material in a 0.80 V operating potential window. The cycling stability of the device was depicted in its overall coulombic efficiency which remained relatively stable even after 2,000 cycles. The result obtained provides a means of using cheaper biomass material in the production of high surface area activated carbon with outstanding electrochemical properties for supercapacitor applications.

Level for award<br>&nbsp;(Hons, MSc, <br> &nbsp; PhD, N/A)?

N/A

Primary author

Dr Damilola Momodu (UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA)

Co-authors

Mr Abdulhakeem Bello (Department of Physics University of Pretoria) Mr Abubakar Khaleed (University of Pretoria) Ms Faith Ugbo (University of Pretoria) Mr Kabir Oyedotun (University of Pretoria) Dr Kouadio Julien Dangbegnon (University of Pretoria) Mr Moshawe Madito (Student) Mr Okikiola Olaniyan (University of Pretoria) Ms Tshifhiwa Moureen Masikhwa (University of Pretoria) Dr farshad Barzegar (University of Pretoria)

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