High performance porous carbon derived from Platanus leaves for a solid-state supercapacitor

Abstract

Porous carbons materials have attracted immense interest on account of the well-developed porosity and adjustable surface chemistry. In this study, a Platanus leaves-based porous carbons (PLPCs) with a large specific surface area were prepared by the simple pre‑carbonization and KOH activation method. The morphology and structure of the PLPCs were systematically characterized by TGA, SEM, TEM, XRD, Raman, and N2 adsorption/desorption techniques. The effects of the amount of KOH and the activation temperature on the pore structure and electrochemical property of the samples were discussed. The produced PLPCs have a large specific surface area (up to 1709.82 m2 g−1) and a minimum average pore diameter (1.89 nm). The as-prepared electrode exhibits a specific capacitance of 379 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1 and an excellent cycling stability of 117% over 5000 charge/discharge cycles. The PLPCs samples are employed to fabricate a solid-state supercapacitor (SSCs) and exhibit superior specific capacitance of 186 F g−1 and high energy density of 25.8 Wh kg−1.