Long-Term Performance of Activated Wood Carbon Printed Supercapacitors: A Sustainable Alternative to Conventional Activated Carbon

Abstract

Supercapacitors (SCs) exhibit high power density, rapid charge-discharge capability, and an extended lifecycle, making them highly promising candidates for energy storage applications. Biomass-derived activated carbon (AC) has gained increasing attention for use as an electrode material in SCs due to its sustainability and eco-friendly nature. In this study, activated wood carbon (AWC) is employed as a sustainable electrode material for printed SCs. The long-term performance of AWCbased printed SCs using two aqueous, environmentally friendly electrolytes (NaCl and KxHyPO4) over 10,000 charge-discharge cycles is assessed and compared to that of printed SCs fabricated with commercially available Kuraray YP-80F. The results of this study confirm that the AWC printed SCs show comparable, or even superior, capacitance retention compared to YP-80F printed SCs, particularly when using KxHyPO4 electrolyte. In particular, AWC 2-800 and 3-800 printed SCs demonstrate better capacitance retention at the end of 10,000 cycles, with 94.9 % and 95.0 %, respectively; while YP-80F printed SC exhibits 90 % capacitance retention. These findings underscore the potential of AWC materials as a promising alternative to conventional AC materials, facilitating the development of effective solutions for high-performance and sustainable energy storage systems.