High-performance Supercapacitor Electrodes from Porous Rotten Wood Cellulose-derived Carbon via Fungi Action

Abstract

Natural rotten wood is an excellent precursor to prepare porous carbon. Cellulose carbon of rotten wood (RWCC) has been prepared through carbonizing cellulose extracted from rotten wood followed by ZnCl2 activation. RWCC exhibits a large specific surface area (SSA) of 1714.27 m2 g−1 and uniform microporous structure. RWCC shows a high specific capacitance of 350 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 in 6 M KOH electrolyte. Fungi-assisted method is low-cost and efficient for preparing porous carbon-based electrode materials. Cellulose carbon of rotten wood (RWCC) was prepared through carbonizing cellulose of rotten wood via fungi action. Attributed to high specific surface area and uniform micropores, RWCC exhibits higher specific capacitance (350 F g−1 at 1 A g−1) and excellent rate performance. The capacitance retention of RWCC is 98.0% after 5000 cycles at 5 A g−1.