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.
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