Abstract:
Activated porous carbon electrode prepared from fibres of oil palm empty fruit bunches was used for preparing the
carbon based supercapacitor cells. The symmetrical supercapacitor cells were fabricated using carbon electrodes, stainless
steel current collector, H2SO4 electrolyte, and three types of nanoporous separators. Cells A, B and C were fabricated using
polypropylene, eggshell membrane, and filter paper, respectively. Electrochemical characterizations data from
Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy, Cyclic Voltammetry, and Galvanic Charge Discharge techniques showed that
specific capacitance, specific power and specific energy for cell A were 122 F g-1, 177 W kg-1, 3.42 Wh kg-1, cell B; 125 F g-
1, 179 W kg-1, and 3.64 Wh kg-1, and cell C; 180 F g-1, 178 W kg-1, 4.27 Wh kg-1. All the micrographs from Field Emission
Scanning Electron Microscope showed that the different in nanoporous structure of the separators lead to a significant
different in influencing the values of specific capacitance, power and energy of supercapacitors, which is associated with the
mobility of ion into the pore network. These results indicated that the filter paper was superior than the eggshell membrane
and polypropylene nanoporous separators. However, we found that in terms of acidic resistance, polypropylene was the best
nanoporous separator for acidic medium.
