Facile route to synthesis amorphous carbon nanostructures from dairy bio-precursors for energy storage application

Abstract

Carbon nanoparticles are synthesized by a controlled combustion process of Ghee (dairy-based fat) in a specially designed chamber. The carbon particles are deposited on quartz and silver substrates located at a height of 5 mm from the tip to gain maximum yield. The x-ray Diffraction (XRD) pattern has confirmed the formation of a disordered layered structure leading to an amorphous phase. The surface morphology obtained using Field Emission- Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM) and High Resolution-Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM) have revealed a homogeneous distribution of 50–60 nm sized carbon nanoparticles. The disordered and graphitic nature of carbon nanoparticles is also evident from the values 0.85 and 0.92 obtained from the ratio of intensities corresponding to D and G bands of Raman active modes. The surface area of particles was determined to be 286.5 m2 g−1 and 102.4 m2 g−1 for silver and quartz susbstrate respectively, as determined by BET- measurements. The elemental analysis of nanoparticles carried out by x-ray photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Energy Dispersive x-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and Carbon-Hydrogen-Nitrogen (CHN) analysis has inferred that silver plays a role in synthesizing high-purity carbon nanoparticles with enhanced physical characteristics. The electrochemical studies were conducted on silver and quartz-derived carbon electrodes. As-prepared carbon nanoparticles deposited on a silver substrate (SS) are used in a successful demonstration of an Electric double-layer capacitor and in a three-electrode system, exhibiting capacitance values of 15 Fg−1 and 134 Fg−1 over 10,000 cycles and 2000 cycles, respectively. This investigation highlights low-temperature synthesis of hydrophobic carbon nanoparticles with a high surface area, utilizing a dairy-based bio-precursor and their application in successfully demonstrating an electric double-layer supercapacitor.