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Tobacco Stem-Based Activated Carbons for High Performance Supercapacitors

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Abstract

Tobacco stem-based activated carbons (TS-ACs) were prepared by simple KOH activation and their application as electrodes in the electrical double layer capacitor (EDLC) performed successfully. The BET surface area, pore volume, and pore size distribution of the TS-ACs were evaluated based on N2 adsorption isotherms at 77 K. The surface area of the obtained activated carbons varies over a wide range (1472.8-3326.7 m2/g) and the mesoporosity was enhanced significantly as the ratio of KOH to tobacco stem (TS) increased. The electrochemical behaviors of series TS-ACs were characterized by means of galvanostatic charging/discharging, cyclic voltammetry, and impedance spectroscopy. The correlation between electrochemical properties and pore structure was investigated. A high specific capacitance value as 190 F/g at 1 mA/cm2 was obtained in 1 M LiPF6-EC/DMC/DEC electrolyte solution. Furthermore, good performance is also achieved even at high current densities. A development of new use for TS into a valuable energy storage material is explored.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50872032) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 531107040185).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, Hunan, China

    Xiaohong Xia, Hongbo Liu, Lei Shi & Yuede He

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  1. Xiaohong Xia
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  2. Hongbo Liu
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  3. Lei Shi
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  4. Yuede He
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Correspondence to Hongbo Liu.

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Xia, X., Liu, H., Shi, L. et al. Tobacco Stem-Based Activated Carbons for High Performance Supercapacitors. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 21, 1956–1961 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-011-0101-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-011-0101-3

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