Performance studies of an electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) fabricated using edible oil-derived activated carbon

This work reports the synthesis of bio-carbonaceous electrode material, carbon soot (CS), by molecular growth of hydrocarbons in a simple chain reaction without any artificial environment. The activated CS (ACS) is derived by burning the mustard oil (wick-and-oil flame synthesis) followed by activation using ZnCl2. The ACS possesses more ordered layered structure with spherical morphology with higher carbon content as compared to the raw CS. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies reveal superior charge-transfer characteristics of the ACS electrodes. The galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD) studies reveal that the electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) utilizing the ACS electrodes delivers superior specific capacity of 50 F g−1 at 0.5 mA cm−2 than that of raw CS (28 F g−1). The EDLC fabricated using activated CS electrode shows excellent power density of 1620 W kg−1 and energy density 20.25 W h kg−1.