Abstract:
Biomass is a renewable energy source that can be converted into carbon material
for supercapacitor energy storage devices. This study used mahogany rind
biomass as carbon electrodes for supercapacitor cells without the addition of
thiourea and with the addition of 0,5 and 1g thiourea. The process of fabrication
carbon electrodes begins with a pre-carbonization process with a temperature of
200˚C, after that, a chemical activation process was carried out using KOH with a
concentration of 0.1 M, then the carbonization process with N2 gas at a
temperature of 600˚C and followed by physical activation with CO2 gas at a
temperature 800˚C. The highest density shrinkage value is owned by the KBM-0
sample, which is 45.04%. Fourier Transform Infra Red analysis shows that the
activated carbon of mahogany rind contains functional groups O-H, C-H, S-H, CC,
C=O and C-O. X-Ray Diffraction analysis shows that there are two broad
peaks at an angle of 2θ 22˚-24˚ and 43˚ in the scattering plane (002) and (100)
which identify amorphous characteristics. Scanning Electron Microscopy analysis
shows the formation of porous carbon electrodes with mesoporous and nanofiber
morphological structures. Energy Dispersive X-Ray analysis show that the KBM-
0 sample has the highest carbon content, at 96.19%. The results of electrochemical
analysis of supercapacitor cells using the Cyclic Voltametry and Galvanostatic
Charge-Discharge methods with 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte, yielded the highest
specific capacitance values owned by the KBM-0 sample of 375.47 Fg-1 and
384.67 A/g, respectively. In conclusion, the biomass of mahogany rind can be
used as a porous carbon electrode for the application of high-performance
supercapacitor cells.
