51st NARECOM

Abstract:

Carbonaceous materials, including activated carbon (AC) and graphene and its derivatives, are widely used as active materials for supercapacitor electrodes due to their high surface area, electrical conductivity and low density. AC is readily accessible and can be produced from a variety of biomass sources using either chemical or physical activation methods. Beyond biomass, plastic waste has emerged as a promising alternative precursor for producing activated carbon. The first part of the talk will focus on AC derived from plastic waste, which offers a pathway for creating high-value electrode materials for supercapacitors (SCs). The second part of the talk will show how bio-based solvents, Cyrene and Tamisolve, enable high-performance, mechanically robust supercapacitor electrodes with industrially relevant mass loadings, matching the performance of NMP-based systems. These results point toward a transition from laboratory innovation to truly sustainable supercapacitor production.