Hierarchically porous carbon from biomass tar as sustainable electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors

The byproduct tar from biomass gasification process had seriously impeded development and applications of this technology, thus novel path for biomass tar valorization is had been continuously pursued. Given its high carbon content, this work attempted to convert biomass tar into hierarchically porous carbon by thermal activation with acetate potassium. The optimal product produced with mass ratio of biomass tar to acetate potassium of 1:3 and activation temperature at 800 & DEG;C was revealed as excellent electrode material for high-performance supercapacitor, which demonstrated electrochemical capacitance up to 310.4 F/g at 0.2 A/g, whilst preserved 91% of initial capacitance after 5000 charge-discharge circles at current density of 5 A/g. These excellent properties had arisen from the open and hierarchical porosity and large surface area. This work disclosed the great potential of biomass tar as sustainable and competent candidate for fabricating high-performance electrode material for electrochemical energy devices, and may bring up new opportunities to development of biomass gasification technologies. & COPY; 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.