Microporous Activated Carbon from KOH-Activation of Rubber Seed-Shells for Application in Capacitor Electrode

This study is to prepare the activated carbon from rubber seed-shells by KOH activation Activated Carbons (ACs) for the electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLCs). Impregnation-Activation Method using 2%wt KOH solution as a chemical agent was used. The BET surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution of ACs were characterized using N2 adsorption technique. The surface morphology was evaluated with SEM. Electrochemical properties of the prepared ACs electrodes have been studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV) in 30%wt of KOH as electrolyte. All prepared ACs had adsorption isotherm Type I indicating as the pore structure is mainly composed of micropores. Highest specific surface area (620 m2/g) with higher iodine number (639.73 mg/g) was obtained from the carbonization at 900oC. The specific capacitance of the microporous ACs sheet electrode reached 63.2 F/g at 1 mV/s.