Sushant Kumar, R.C. Singh, Vinay Deep Punetha, Pawan Singh Dhapola, Markus Diantoro, Manoj K. Singh, Pramod K. Singh
Activated carbons, due to their high surface area and well-developed pore structure, are excellent electrode materials for energy storage devices. The properties of activated carbons can be tuned by modifying certain factors, such as activating agent, activation temperature, time, concentration of activating agent, etc. In the present work, the effect of activating agent concentration on the properties of activated carbon is systematically investigated by synthesizing a series of samples via chemical activation and carbonization of the biopolymer, phytagel, using zinc chloride (ZnCl2) as the activating agent. Five different samples of activated carbons are prepared by using the phytagel to ZnCl2 w/w ratio in 1:0, 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4. The prepared activated carbons are characterized using different characterization tools such as XRD, Raman, BET, SEM, TEM, EDX, XPS, etc. To study the practical application, all the activated carbons are used to fabricate solid-state supercapacitors, which are further characterized using EIS, CV, and GCD in a two-electrode geometry. The activated carbon with phytagel to ZnCl2 w/w ratio 1:3 shows the highest specific capacitance of 129 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 and an energy density of 17.9 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 974 W kg−1. © 2025 Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
Department of Physics, School of Physical Sciences, Starex University, Haryana, Gurugram, 122413, India; Centre of Excellence in Solar Cell and Renewable Energy, Department of Physics & Environmental Sciences, Sharda School of Engineering & Science (SSES), Sharda University, Uttar Pradesh, Greater Noida, 201306, India; Centre of Excellence for Research, P P Savani University, GETCO, NH 8, Kosamba, 394125, India; Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Negeri Malang, J1, Semarang 5, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Energy Conversion &Storage Lab, Department of Applied Science & Humanities, Rajkiya Engineering College Banda, AKTU, Uttar Pradesh, 210201, India
