Activated Carbon from Corncobs Doped with RuO<sub>2</sub> as Biobased Electrode Material

Bio-based activated carbons with very high specific surface area of >3.000 m² g<sup>−1</sup> (based on CO<sub>2</sub> adsorption isotherms) and a high proportion of micropores (87% of total SSA) are produced by corncobs via pyrolysis and chemical activation with KOH. The a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Viola Hoffmann, Catalina Rodriguez Correa, Saskia Sachs, Andrea del Pilar Sandoval-Rojas, Mo Qiao, Avery B. Brown, Michael Zimmermann, Jenny Paola Rodriguez Estupiñan, Maria Teresa Cortes, Juan Manuel Carlos Moreno Pirajan, Maria-Magdalena Titirici, Andrea Kruse
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
Series:Electronic Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-3978/2/3/23
Description
Summary:Bio-based activated carbons with very high specific surface area of >3.000 m² g<sup>−1</sup> (based on CO<sub>2</sub> adsorption isotherms) and a high proportion of micropores (87% of total SSA) are produced by corncobs via pyrolysis and chemical activation with KOH. The activated carbon is further doped with different proportions of the highly pseudocapacitive transition metal oxide RuO<sub>2</sub> to obtain enhanced electrochemical properties and tune the materials for the application in electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLC) (supercapacitors). The activated carbon and composites are extensively studied regarding their physico-chemical and electrochemical properties. The results show that the composite containing 40 wt.% RuO<sub>2</sub> has an electric conductivity of 408 S m<sup>−1</sup> and a specific capacitance of 360 Fg<sup>−1</sup>. SEM-EDX, XPS, and XRD analysis confirm the homogenous distribution of partly crystalline RuO<sub>2</sub> particles on the carbon surface, which leads to a biobased composite material with enhanced electrochemical properties.
ISSN:2673-3978