title: Construction of high-energy-density supercapacitors from pine-cone-derived high-surface-area carbons.
abstract: Very high surface area activated carbons (AC) are synthesized from pine cone petals by a chemical activation process and subsequently evaluated as an electrode material for supercapacitor applications in a nonaqueous medium. The maximum specific surface area of ∼3950 m(2)  g(-1) is noted for the material treated with a 1:5 ratio of KOH to pine cone petals (PCC5), which is much higher than that reported for carbonaceous materials derived from various other biomass precursors. A symmetric supercapacitor is fabricated with PCC5 electrodes, and the results showed enhanced supercapacitive behavior with the highest energy density of ∼61 Wh kg(-1). Furthermore, outstanding cycling ability is evidenced for such a configuration, and ∼90 % of the initial specific capacitance after 20,000 cycles under harsh conditions was observed. This result revealed that the pine-cone-derived high-surface-area AC can be used effectively as a promising electrode material to construct high-energy-density supercapacitors.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Applied Chemical Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwang-ju 500-757 (Republic of Korea); Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6 A 5B9 (Canada). leeys@chonnam.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Kaliyappan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Karthikeyan
authors.forename: Samuthirapandiyan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amaresh
authors.forename: Sol Nip
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Xueliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Vanchiappan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Aravindan
authors.forename: Young-Gi
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yun Sung
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D025802:Electric Capacitance; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004566:Electrodes; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D056951:Photoelectron Spectroscopy; D028223:Pinus; D013499:Surface Properties; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon
keywords: biomass; carbon; electrochemistry; mesoporous materials; microporous materials