Fabricating sustainable electrodes for symmetric supercapacitors using lignosulfonate with two-step CO2 activation and plasma-assisted treatments
Journal
Journal of Power Sources
Journal Volume
641
Start Page
236887
ISSN
0378-7753
Date Issued
2025-06-15
Author(s)
Abstract
In this study, lignosulfonate (LS) is utilized as a precursor to prepare lignosulfonate-activated carbon (LSAC) through a two-step CO2 physical activation process. The LSAC is then employed as an electrode material and is assembled with PVA/H2SO4 gel electrolyte to fabricate supercapacitors. The experimental results reveal that the carbonization temperature, pre-oxidation treatment, and activation time considerably influence the pore characteristics of LSAC, thereby affecting its subsequent electrochemical performance. The optimal conditions, without pre-oxidation, carbonization at 700 °C, activation at 800 °C, and a 90 min activation time, LSAC achieves the highest specific surface area (1015.33 m2/g) and a carbon content of 83.110 %. The electrochemical testing demonstrates that the system attains the highest areal capacitance (646.78 mF/cm2) at a current of 0.25 mA, an energy density of 57.491 μWh/cm2, a power density of 0.0667 mW/cm2, and 99.13 % of capacitance retention after 4000 charge-discharge cycles. This research highlights the potential for LSAC to be applied in energy storage devices, thereby enhancing the recycling value of industrial lignin.
Subjects
Atmospheric pressure plasma
Carbon
Lignosulfonate
Screen-printing
Supercapacitor
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Type
journal article