Enhancing the Performance of a Metal-Free Self-Supported Carbon Felt-Based Supercapacitor with Facile Two-Step Electrochemical Activation
Carbon felt (CF) is an inexpensive carbon-based material that is highly conductive and features extraordinary inherent surface area. Using such a metal-free, low-cost material for energy storage applications can benefit their practical implementation; however, only limited success has been achieved...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-01-01
|
| Series: | Nanomaterials |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/3/427 |
| _version_ | 1797485803909152768 |
|---|---|
| author | AlBatool A. Abaalkhail Basheer A. Alshammari Ghzzai N. Almutairi Feraih S. Alenazey Mohammed F. Alotibi Asma M. Alenad Abdullah G. Alharbi Thamer S. Almoneef Bandar M. AlOtaibi |
| author_facet | AlBatool A. Abaalkhail Basheer A. Alshammari Ghzzai N. Almutairi Feraih S. Alenazey Mohammed F. Alotibi Asma M. Alenad Abdullah G. Alharbi Thamer S. Almoneef Bandar M. AlOtaibi |
| author_sort | AlBatool A. Abaalkhail |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Carbon felt (CF) is an inexpensive carbon-based material that is highly conductive and features extraordinary inherent surface area. Using such a metal-free, low-cost material for energy storage applications can benefit their practical implementation; however, only limited success has been achieved using metal-free CF for supercapacitor electrodes. This work thoroughly studies a cost-effective and simple method for activating metal-free self-supported carbon felt. As-received CF samples were first chemically modified with an acidic mixture, then put through a time optimization two-step electrochemical treatment in inorganic salts. The initial oxidative exfoliation process enhances the fiber’s surface area and ultimately introduced oxygen functional groups to the surface, whereas the subsequent reduction process substantially improved the conductivity. We achieved a 205-fold enhancement of capacitance over the as-received CF, with a maximum specific capacitance of 205 Fg<sup>−1</sup>, while using a charging current density of 23 mAg<sup>−1</sup>. Additionally, we obtained a remarkable capacitance retention of 78% upon increasing the charging current from 0.4 to 1 Ag<sup>−1</sup>. Finally, the cyclic stability reached 87% capacitance retention after 2500 cycles. These results demonstrate the potential utility of electrochemically activated CF electrodes in supercapacitor devices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:24:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1292a8a077a64a618f0bebe113ce987e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:24:07Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanomaterials |
| spelling | doaj.art-1292a8a077a64a618f0bebe113ce987e2023-11-23T17:20:35ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912022-01-0112342710.3390/nano12030427Enhancing the Performance of a Metal-Free Self-Supported Carbon Felt-Based Supercapacitor with Facile Two-Step Electrochemical ActivationAlBatool A. Abaalkhail0Basheer A. Alshammari1Ghzzai N. Almutairi2Feraih S. Alenazey3Mohammed F. Alotibi4Asma M. Alenad5Abdullah G. Alharbi6Thamer S. Almoneef7Bandar M. AlOtaibi8The Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh P.O. Box 6086, Saudi ArabiaMaterial Science Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh P.O. Box 6086, Saudi ArabiaThe National Center for Energy Storage Technologies, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh P.O. Box 6086, Saudi ArabiaThe National Center for Energy Storage Technologies, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh P.O. Box 6086, Saudi ArabiaMaterial Science Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh P.O. Box 6086, Saudi ArabiaChemistry Department, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka P.O. Box 2014, Saudi ArabiaChemistry Department, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka P.O. Box 2014, Saudi ArabiaElectrical Engineer Department, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj P.O. Box 173, Saudi ArabiaThe Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh P.O. Box 6086, Saudi ArabiaCarbon felt (CF) is an inexpensive carbon-based material that is highly conductive and features extraordinary inherent surface area. Using such a metal-free, low-cost material for energy storage applications can benefit their practical implementation; however, only limited success has been achieved using metal-free CF for supercapacitor electrodes. This work thoroughly studies a cost-effective and simple method for activating metal-free self-supported carbon felt. As-received CF samples were first chemically modified with an acidic mixture, then put through a time optimization two-step electrochemical treatment in inorganic salts. The initial oxidative exfoliation process enhances the fiber’s surface area and ultimately introduced oxygen functional groups to the surface, whereas the subsequent reduction process substantially improved the conductivity. We achieved a 205-fold enhancement of capacitance over the as-received CF, with a maximum specific capacitance of 205 Fg<sup>−1</sup>, while using a charging current density of 23 mAg<sup>−1</sup>. Additionally, we obtained a remarkable capacitance retention of 78% upon increasing the charging current from 0.4 to 1 Ag<sup>−1</sup>. Finally, the cyclic stability reached 87% capacitance retention after 2500 cycles. These results demonstrate the potential utility of electrochemically activated CF electrodes in supercapacitor devices.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/3/427carbon feltsupercapacitorelectrochemical activationcarbon electrodeflexible electrodeenergy storage |
| spellingShingle | AlBatool A. Abaalkhail Basheer A. Alshammari Ghzzai N. Almutairi Feraih S. Alenazey Mohammed F. Alotibi Asma M. Alenad Abdullah G. Alharbi Thamer S. Almoneef Bandar M. AlOtaibi Enhancing the Performance of a Metal-Free Self-Supported Carbon Felt-Based Supercapacitor with Facile Two-Step Electrochemical Activation Nanomaterials carbon felt supercapacitor electrochemical activation carbon electrode flexible electrode energy storage |
| title | Enhancing the Performance of a Metal-Free Self-Supported Carbon Felt-Based Supercapacitor with Facile Two-Step Electrochemical Activation |
| title_full | Enhancing the Performance of a Metal-Free Self-Supported Carbon Felt-Based Supercapacitor with Facile Two-Step Electrochemical Activation |
| title_fullStr | Enhancing the Performance of a Metal-Free Self-Supported Carbon Felt-Based Supercapacitor with Facile Two-Step Electrochemical Activation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhancing the Performance of a Metal-Free Self-Supported Carbon Felt-Based Supercapacitor with Facile Two-Step Electrochemical Activation |
| title_short | Enhancing the Performance of a Metal-Free Self-Supported Carbon Felt-Based Supercapacitor with Facile Two-Step Electrochemical Activation |
| title_sort | enhancing the performance of a metal free self supported carbon felt based supercapacitor with facile two step electrochemical activation |
| topic | carbon felt supercapacitor electrochemical activation carbon electrode flexible electrode energy storage |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/3/427 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT albatoolaabaalkhail enhancingtheperformanceofametalfreeselfsupportedcarbonfeltbasedsupercapacitorwithfaciletwostepelectrochemicalactivation AT basheeraalshammari enhancingtheperformanceofametalfreeselfsupportedcarbonfeltbasedsupercapacitorwithfaciletwostepelectrochemicalactivation AT ghzzainalmutairi enhancingtheperformanceofametalfreeselfsupportedcarbonfeltbasedsupercapacitorwithfaciletwostepelectrochemicalactivation AT feraihsalenazey enhancingtheperformanceofametalfreeselfsupportedcarbonfeltbasedsupercapacitorwithfaciletwostepelectrochemicalactivation AT mohammedfalotibi enhancingtheperformanceofametalfreeselfsupportedcarbonfeltbasedsupercapacitorwithfaciletwostepelectrochemicalactivation AT asmamalenad enhancingtheperformanceofametalfreeselfsupportedcarbonfeltbasedsupercapacitorwithfaciletwostepelectrochemicalactivation AT abdullahgalharbi enhancingtheperformanceofametalfreeselfsupportedcarbonfeltbasedsupercapacitorwithfaciletwostepelectrochemicalactivation AT thamersalmoneef enhancingtheperformanceofametalfreeselfsupportedcarbonfeltbasedsupercapacitorwithfaciletwostepelectrochemicalactivation AT bandarmalotaibi enhancingtheperformanceofametalfreeselfsupportedcarbonfeltbasedsupercapacitorwithfaciletwostepelectrochemicalactivation |