Preparation of porous carbon made from candlenut shell (Aleurites moluccana) as a cathode for lithium ion capacitor

Highly porous carbon from various biomass is known for its application as a cathode in energy storage devices. It has been receiving much attention for its ability to be the source of carbon precursor. This research focuses on the synthesis of activated carbon made from candlenut shell for the cathode of lithium ion capacitors (LIC). In the synthesis process, ultrasonic impregnation method was applied together with 3.5 M KOH and 3.5 M ZnCl2 as the activators; processed at at 80°C for 2 hours with carbonization at 500 ° C and 650 ° C for 1.5 hours. The pore characteristics which are highly dependent on the activator can be determined by the Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) method. The cathode was assembled from a mixture of activated carbon, Super P (carbon black) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with the ratio of 85:5:10 (in wt%), respectively. The electrochemical properties show the highest capacitance of 717.587 mF g⁻¹ with KOH as the activator. These results indicate that the activated carbon from candlenut shell would be potentially applied as precursor material for LIC cathode. (paper)