Cerium chloride-assisted subcritical water carbonization for fabrication of high-performance cathodes for lithium-ion capacitors

• Published in: Journal of applied electrochemistry Vol. 51; no. 10; pp. 1449 - 1462
• Main Authors: Susanti, Ratna Frida, Kristianto, Hans, Chrismanto, Claudius, Ondy, Filbert Christian, Kim, Jaehoon, Chang, Wonyoung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.10.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Capacitors; Carbonization; Cathodes; Cerium; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chlorides; Electrochemistry; Energy storage; Flux density; Graphitic structure; Hybrid systems; Hydrothermal treatment; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Lithium ions; Physical Chemistry; Research Article; Synthesis; Subcritical water; Lithium-ion capacitor; Hydrothermal treatment; Biomass; CeCl; Activated carbon
• ISSN: 0021-891X; 1572-8838
• DOI: 10.1007/s10800-021-01591-9

Lithium-ion capacitors are considered highly promising as a hybrid-type energy storage system and are suitable for large-scale energy storage applications because of their superior power and energy density as well as prolonged cycle life. In this study, we developed an activated carbon (AC)-based electrode with excellent capacitive performance using salacca peel, a native Indonesian fruit, as the carbon precursor. The AC was synthesized via hydrothermal treatment of salacca peel with cerium (III) chloride (CeCl 3 ) as the catalyst, followed by microwave-assisted chemical activation; the obtained sample was denoted as AC–S–CE. The addition of CeCl 3 during the hydrothermal carbonization facilitated the formation of micropores in the AC; this resulted in a considerably greater surface area (1264.4 m 2  g –1 ) and a more defective graphitic structure than that of AC synthesized in the absence of CeCl 3 (AC–S, 988.9 m 2  g –1 ) and of commercially available AC (742.8 m 2  g –1 ). In terms of being an LIC cathode, all the ACs exhibited a non-faradaic charge–discharge mechanism. AC–S–CE exhibited a higher capacitance of 90.6 F g –1 at 0.05 A g –1 and improved cycling performance compared with those of AC–S and commercially available AC. Graphic abstract