Synthesis of Activated Carbon from Salacca Peel using Hydrothermal Carbonization and Microwave Assisted Chemical Activation as Promising Supercapacitor-s Electrode
Hans Kristianto (a), Ratna Frida Susanti (a*), Arenst Andreas Arie (a), Filbert Christian Ondy (a), Claudius Chrismanto (a), Hary Devianto (b)
a) Department of Chemical Engineering, Industrial Technology Faculty, Parahyangan Catholic University, Ciumbuleuit 94, Bandung 40141, West Java, Indonesia
b) Department of Chemical Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, West Java, Indonesia
Abstract
In this study we utilize salacca peel as a precursor to synthesis activated carbon (AC) using hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and microwave assisted chemical activation method. The HTC was done at 225°C, 50 bar for 5 h using citric acid as a catalyst. The obtained hydrochar was furthermore impregnated using KOH as activating agent at various hydrochar to KOH mass ratio (1:2, 1:3, and 1:4). The activation was done by under microwave radiation of 700 Watt for 5 min. The obtained activated carbons were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and methylene blue adsorption. The best activated carbon (1:4) was furthermore tested as nickel ion-s capacitor. The electrochemical characteristics (cyclic voltammetry) were measured by using half-cell test pouch with nickel oxide as reference electrode and 6 M KOH as electrolyte. The results obtained showed that activated carbon from salacca peel gave better performance compared to commercial activated carbon.
Keywords: activated carbon; chemical activation; hydrothermal carbonization; supercapacitor
Topic: Chemical Engineering