Date of Award
Spring 5-10-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Chemistry
First Advisor
Ram Gupta (rgupta@pittstate.edu)
Second Advisor
Khamis Siam (ksiam@pittstate.edu)
Third Advisor
Pawan Kahol (pkahol@pittstate.edu)
Fourth Advisor
John Franklin (jfranklin@pittstate.edu)
Keywords
Electrical double layer capacitor, Electrochemical property, supercapacitor, EDL, bio-based carbon, capacitance
Abstract
The ever-increasing energy demands of daily life by devices such as portable electronics, vehicle equipment, and medical instruments stimulate development of highly efficient, cost-effective, and non-polluting materials for energy storage applications. Bio-based carbon material is the most promising and greenest class of electrodes based on the principle of the electrical double layer capacity, which has many merits such as high efficiency, long lifespan, fast charge-discharge rate, etc. for energy storage devices. In this study, combining carbonization and chemical activation processes through KOH, micropore and mesopore structures of soybean shells, stems, and leaves are successfully synthesized. Physical morphology and structures of the synthesized materials were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller techniques, respectively. The electrochemical properties of the synthesized materials were performed by using a conventional three-electrode system. Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge were used to evaluate the energy storage capacity.
The supercapacitor electrodes prepared from the highly porous soybean shell, stem and leaf exhibited high specific capacitance of 328 F/g, 207 F/g, and 253 F/g, respectively, in 3 M KOH electrolyte at 1 A/g of current density. The soybean electrode materials displayed outstanding cyclic stability for 10,000 cycles of charge-discharge measurements with almost 100% retention of initial capacitance and Coulombic efficiency. The soybean shell/stem/leaf has a much higher specific capacity compared with commercial carbon. This work showed a cost-effective and eco-friendly way to prepare highly efficient and durable electrode materials from renewable soybean shells/stems/leaves for energy storage applications.
Recommended Citation
Zhao, Chen, "HIGH PERFORMANCE CARBON DERIVED FROM SOYBEAN WASTE FOR ENERGY STORAGE APPLICATIONS" (2019). Electronic Theses & Dissertations. 637.
https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/etd/637
