Porous activated carbon derived from natural waste honeycomb and paper wasp hive and its application in quasi-solid-state supercapacitor

AbstractPorous activated carbons are derived from natural waste honeycomb (HC) and paper wasps hive (PW) via carbonization and chemical activation. Both the activated carbons are characterized using BET, SEM, XRD, and Raman studies. Both of them offered approximately the same BET surface area, but different pore structure confirmed by SEM images. The HC-based activated carbon offers a higher degree of disorder compared to PWAC which is confirmed by Raman studies. Two EDLC cells are fabricated using ionic liquid incorporated GPE (PVdF-HFP/ EMImTCM) and activated carbons electrodes (HCAC and PWAC). The EDLC cells are characterized using electrochemical Impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and galvanostatic charge-discharge techniques. The PWAC-based EDLC cell (Cell#2) has been offered large specific capacitance ~ 88 F g− 1in comparison to HCAC- based EDLC cell (Cell#1) ~ 66 F g− 1. Initial performance of Cell#2 is high due to the micropore nature of PW-based activated carbon as compared to HC-based activated carbon, and its value decreases after certain cycles confirmed by cycling tests. The Cell#1 (HCAC) is offered high-rate performance as compared to Cell#2 (PWAC) which is revealed by EIS studies. It is further confirmed by CV studies that CV profiles of Cell#1 are more rectangular as compared to Cell#2. The voltage range of both cells are optimized and found to be 1.0 V. The cycle performance of both cells was tested and found that Cell#1 is more stable (~ 78% of initial capacitance) as compared to Cell#2 in 2000 cycles.