Nitrogen doped activated carbon derived from orange peel for supercapacitor application

Sultan Ahmed, M Rafat and Ahsan Ahmed

Abstract

The present study describes preparation of N-doped activated carbon (NAC), employing waste orange peel as carbon source, melamine as nitrogen dopant and KOH as activating agent. The prepared NAC samples were textually characterized using the techniques of surface area and pore size analyzer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. As evident from characterization results, the synthesized NAC materials own porous structure and offers high surface area (1577 m².g^-1), and pore volume (0.87 cm³.g^-1). Such useful characteristics of NAC indicate its suitability as electrode for supercapacitors. Electrochemical performance of NAC material was evaluated in 6 M KOH aqueous solution, employing the standard electrochemical avenues of analysis. It was found that synthesized NAC sample exhibits high specific capacitance (∼ 168 F.g^-1), specific energy  (∼ 23.3 Wh.kg^-1) and specific power (∼ 2334.3 W.kg^-1) at current load of 0.7 A.g^-1. The better electrochemical performance of the NAC is probably due to enhanced surface area and availability of nitrogen functional groups. Thus, the porous structure and nitrogen-doping characteristics make NAC a potential electrode material for applications in the field of supercapacitors