Development of Mesoporous Biocarbon from Treated Spent Mushroom Substrate for Supercapacitor Application

Mesoporous activated carbon for supercapacitor is produced via phosphoric acid chemical activation of treated spent mushroom substrate (SMS). The nature of activated carbon is characterized using X-ray diffraction while surface morphology is performed using scanning electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption at 77 K for specific surface area, pore distribution and pore diameter. The highest specific surface area of 51.6 m(2)g(-1) is achieved in SMS500. The electrochemical capacitance performance of the activated carbon as supercapacitor electrodes are carried out with cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (CD) and electrochemical impendence spectroscopy (EIS) in 1-butyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate electrolyte. The CV results revealed a maximum specific capacitance of 17 Fg(-1) at 3 mVs-1 scan rate and 10 Fg(-1) at 1 mA current in CD. A non-toxic and environmentally friendly electrode material is synthesized. The study discovers a new field of SMS into a promising and valuable energy storage material.