Novel interconnected hierarchical porous carbon electrodes derived from bio-waste of corn husk for supercapacitor applications

Novel Interconnected Hierarchical porous carbon derived from bio-waste of corn husk was endeavored as electrode material for supercapacitors. Hierarchical porous nature of the obtained activated corn husk (ACH) were confirmed using field emission scanning electron microscopy. The surface area of the activated corn husk was found to be 771 m(2) g(-1). The electrochemical performance of the ACH-600 electrode were studied in alkaline, neutral and acid electrolytes. The high specific capacitance of 314.83 F g(-1) at 1 mV s(-1) and 297.81 F g(-1) at 5 mA cm(-2) was achieved in acid electrolyte (0.5 M H2SO4) with an ideal double layer capacitive behaviour. The symmetric capacitor demonstrates stable performance over 2000 cycles with 97.9% coulombic efficiency. Besides the symmetric cell delivered high energy density of 9.85 Wh kg(-1) and high power density of 7185 W kg(-1). This work highlights that, ACH-600 electrodes would be an ideal option for long term energy storage applications.