Abstract:
Supercapacitors are renewable energy storage devices consisting of electrodes,
electrolytes, current collectors and separators. Electrodes are one of the most
important components in a supercapacitor because they are made of nanoscale
materials that have a high surface area and porosity. This study used the crown of
the Phaleria macrocarpa fiber with the addition of 5% and 10% carbon nanotubes
with respective sample codes, namely SMD-00, SMD-05 and SMD-10. The
manufacture of carbon electrodes was carried out by several processes, namely precarbonization
process, chemical activation with KOH activator and addition of
carbon nanotubes, carbonization process using N2 gas at 600ºC and physical
activation using CO2 gas at 800ºC. The highest density shrinkage value is owned
by the SMD-05 sample, which is 45.47%. The SMD carbon electrode contains
functional groups O-H, C-H, C≡C, C=C and C-O and has a semicrystalline structure
characterized by the presence of peaks (002) and (100) at angles of 24º-25º and 44º-
45º. The nanofiber structure with the highest number is owned by the SMD-05
sample with a carbon element percentage of 98.64%. Electrochemical analysis of
supercapacitor cells using the Cylic Voltammetry and Galvanostatic Charge-
Discharge methods with 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte resulted in the highest specific
capacitance values belonging to the SMD-05 sample of 408 Fg-1 and 361.7 Fg-1
respectively. Based on the physical and electrochemical properties of SMD
biomass-based supercapacitor cells, the addition of carbon nanotubes to the carbon
matrix might improve the performance of supercapacitor cell electrodes.
