Abstract:
Biomassa-derived porous carbon has become an electrode material to be developed as
a supercapacitor because it is relatively cheap and easy to obtain. Electrode materials
derived from biomass for supercapacitors are considered as an effective solution to
the problems of the energy crisis. Optimization efforts are made for the variations
concentration of KOH in the manufacture ofelectrodes in order to obtain a high
specific capacitance. Production of the electrodes began with pre-carbonization
process of sample at a temperature of 200 0C for 1 hours and then process with
chemical activation using KOH activator with 0,1 M, 0,2 M and 0,3 M concentration.
The carbon electrode carbonization process is carried out at a temperature of 600 0C
and the physical activation process at a temperature of 700 0C. TGA characterization
showed the largest mass reduction rate at 313 0C, where this temperature was used as
temperature of thermal resistance in the carbonization process. The highest specific
surface area was found as high as 654,729 m2/g in sample with 0,1 M concentration,
and the specific capacitance was measured in the amount of 137 F/g, 141 F/g and 134
F/g respectively for sample with 0,1 M, 0,2 M and 0,3 M activator concentration. The
results showed that 0.2 M concentration was the best concentration in the production
of areca midrib carbon electrodes. The results shows that the areca midrib is potential
as the low cost and abundant source of material for supercapacitor elektrodes.
