Dopamine functionalized activated carbon-based 3D-printed biodegradable electrode for supercapacitor

Abstract

This study investigates dopamine-grafted activated carbon (DAC) composites synthesized via chemical bonding for use as biodegradable supercapacitor (SC) electrodes. This composite approach leverages both electrical double-layer capacitance and pseudocapacitance to achieve a significant increase in capacitance. The results of thermogravimetric, surface area and porosimeter, Raman and XPS analysis confirmed the grafting of dopamine on AC. 3D-printed SCs were manufactured utilizing electrode materials based on DAC and AC to investigate their electrochemical performance. The DAC-based SC exhibited a specific capacitance of 24 F g-1, notably higher than the 15 F g-1 specific capacitance observed in AC-based SC under a current density of 0.008 A g-1. This difference highlights the important role played by the redox reaction facilitated by the grafted dopamine molecule. DAC holds promise as a biodegradable electrode material suitable for SCs for low power wireless sensor application.