N-doped mesoporous activated carbon derived from protein-rich biomass for energy storage applications

Biomass-derived activated carbon has attracted global attention for supercapacitor applications owing to the limitations of depletable resources and the high cost of conventional activated carbon manufacturing processes. Activated carbon for energy storage requires a large surface area for performing a high energy density, which is the main challenge for biomass-derived activated carbon. Here, we suggest a protein-rich mealworm as a competitive raw material for the activated carbon manufacturing process. Mealworm-based N-doped mesoporous carbon was developed through the synergistic effect of intrinsic amino acids and fatty acids in the mealworm and a KOH activation process. The mealworm-based N-doped mesoporous carbon electrode exhibited a competitive specific capacity at both low and high current densities (154.8 F/g at a current density of 0.2 A/g and 137 F/g at a current density of 5.0 A/g) owing to the high specific surface area (2,470.5 m2/g) and N-doped carbon structure. This superior energy storage capability contributed to its optimized mesoporous morphology and an N-doped carbon structure, which was generated during the KOH activation process.