High capacitance sustainable low-cost cold plasma exposed activated carbon electrode derived from orange peel waste to eco-friendly technique

• Published in: Carbon Letters Vol. 34; no. 6; pp. 1737 - 1754
• Main Authors: Vijayalakshmi, K. A., Sowmiya, K. C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Nature Singapore 01.07.2024; 한국탄소학회; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Adsorption; Agricultural production; Agricultural wastes; Air plasma; Biocompatibility; Capacitance; Carbon; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cold plasmas; Electrodes; Electrolytes; Energy storage; Environmental impact; Field emission microscopy; Field emission spectroscopy; Fourier transforms; Functional groups; Graphitic structure; Infrared spectroscopy; Ion adsorption; Materials Engineering; Materials Science; Morphology; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Oranges; Original Article; Plasma; Raman spectroscopy; Scanning electron microscopy; Vibrations; VOCs; Volatile organic compounds; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy; X-ray diffraction; 자연과학일반; Supercapattery; Hydrophilic; Bio-waste carbon; Cold plasma; Physical method; High capacitance
• ISSN: 1976-4251; 2233-4998
• DOI: 10.1007/s42823-024-00722-4

This study pioneers a transformative approach of discarded orange peels ( Citrus sinensis ) into highly porous carbon, demonstrating its potential application in energy storage devices. The porous carbon structure offers a substantial surface area, making it conducive for effective ion adsorption and storage, thereby enhancing capacitance. The comprehensive characterization, including X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, Raman spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and XPS verifies the material’s suitability for energy storage applications by confirming its nature, functional groups, graphitic structure, porous morphology and surface elemental compositions. Moreover, the introduced plasma treatment not only improves the material’s intensity, bending vibrations, and morphology but also increases capacitance, as evidenced by galvanostatic charge–discharge tests. The air plasma-treated carbon exhibits a noteworthy capacitance of 1916F/g at 0.05A/g in 2 M KOH electrolyte. long term cyclic stability has been conducted up to 10,000 cycles, the calculated capacitance retention and columbic efficiency is 92.7% and 97.6%. These advancements underscore the potential of utilizing activated carbon from agricultural waste in capacitors and supercapatteries, offering a sustainable solution for energy storage with enhanced performance characteristics.