Hierarchical microporous
and mesoporous biocarbons derived from
kapok fruit peels were prepared by a two-step method. First, a carbon
precursor was prepared from the kapok fruit peels by precarbonization
at lower temperature, and then it was activated at a higher temperature
with KOH as an activation agent. Micropores and mesopores of the biocarbons
were controlled by adjusting the mass ratio of KOH to the carbon precursor.
Especially, the biocarbon AC4 that was prepared with a
KOH/carbon precursor mass ratio of 4:1 possesses a sheet structure
with hierarchical pores, a high specific surface area of 1257.6 m2/g, and a pore volume of 1.05 cm3/g. The AC4 biocarbon exhibits a maximum specific capacitance of 332.3
F/g at a current density of 1 A/g, and it still remains a specific
capacitance as high as 180 F/g with increasing the current density
up to 50 A/g. The AC4 electrode material also possesses
an excellent life span after 10 000 cycles. On the basis of
these obtained results, the relationship between the electrochemical
performance and the structure of the biocarbon was discussed.
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