Wood Biocarbon Supercapacitors Develop Low Cost and Environmental Protection

The researchers’ report shows that wood bio-carbon supercapacitors can generate electricity equivalent to today’s activated carbon supercapacitors, but at a lower cost and in favor of environmental protection.

The report was published in the Journal of Electrochemistry. Junhua Jiang, head of the report research group and senior researcher at the University of Illinois at Sustainability Center, said that supercapacitors are similar to the batteries we use. The battery relies on a chemical reaction to continuously produce electrical energy, while the super capacitor accumulates charged ions on its electrodes and rapidly releases these ions upon discharge. In this way, it can provide sufficient energy (such as the camera's flash) in a lightning-fast manner, or it can instantly meet the peak demand of the energy network.

“For applications that require immediate charging or need instant energy, the supercapacitor is the perfect accessory because it can be quickly charged at a lower cost,” said Junhua Jiang, who is in transportation, electronics, solar and wind energy storage. The application prospects in distribution are broad.

Many supercapacitors today use activated carbon, which is derived from fossil energy.

“In order to generate the microstructure of activated carbon, that is, to increase the pore volume and optimize the pore network, a costly and complicated process is required. The purpose of this program is to increase the surface area of ​​the electrode and to increase the ability of each well to quickly capture and release ions.” Junhua Jiang explained the principle of generating activated carbon microstructures.

For a wood capacitor, its natural wood pore structure can be directly regarded as an electrode surface, so it is not necessary to use complex techniques to manufacture the pore structure. And wood biochar can be obtained by heating wood with low oxygen.

For some woods, the size and distribution of the holes are very suitable for rapid ion transmission. The study used red juniper, but other woods such as maple or cherry are also suitable.

In general, in the production of supercapacitors, costly and highly corrosive chemicals are generally used to process activated carbon, thereby imparting the necessary physical and chemical properties to the electrodes.

"The use of these chemicals may have an impact on the environment. We should avoid or minimize the damage to the environment," said Junhua Jiang.

Jiang and his team used mild nitric acid to activate biochar and remove biochar ash (such as calcium carbonate, potassium carbonate, and other impurities). This process also has another advantage. The solvent produced by the action of the nitric acid compound can be used as a fertilizer.

These simple methods significantly reduce the material and environmental costs required to produce a supercapacitor.

"The material cost of bio-carbon supercapacitors is much lower than that of activated carbon supercapacitors," said Junhua Jiang.

When the lifespan of a bio-carbon ultracapacitor comes to an end, the electrode can be crushed and used as an organic soil conditioner, which will make the soil more fertile.

"The performance of bio-carbon materials can be compared with today's advanced carbon materials, which include carbon nanotubes and vinyl materials. This means that we can achieve equivalent efficiency with lower material costs and environmental costs." (Translated from: October 23, 2013 【United States】 Daily Scientific Compilation: Xie Runchao, International Economic and Technical Cooperation Center, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology)

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