Electrode material for supercapacitor using activated carbon derived from flower of Achyranthes aspera L.

Abstract

Herein, highly porous activated carbon derived from the spike inflorescence part of flower of Achyranthes aspera L. plant has been reported. This plant, which is source of natural, non-toxic and cost effective organic precursor, is commonly known as 'Latjeera' in Hindi speaking region of India. Activated carbon (AC) has been prepared by chemical activation method using zinc chloride (ZnCl2) as activating agent. Heating of flowers of Achyranthes aspera was carried out for carbonization and activation. The structural and morphological study on the prepared AC has been done using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The fabricated electrode double layer capacitor (EDLC) using the synthesized activated carbon shows specific capacitance of 50.8 Fg-1 at current density of 1.0 Ag−1.