Synthesis and characterization of copper-infiltrated carbonized wood monoliths for supercapacitor electrodes

• Copper nanoparticles were embedded in the highly porous carbonized wood electrodes.
• Copper nanoparticle serves as the pseudocapacitive specie to increase the energy density.
• The porous copper-wood electrodes exhibit excellent electrochemical performances with high capacitance, excellent rate capability and stability.

Copper nanoparticle-loaded carbonized wood electrodes were synthesized and characterized for the use as supercapacitor electrodes. The electrodes were fabricated by soaking beech wood samples in Cu(NO3)2 solution followed by carbonization at 800 °C under a N2 atmosphere. The copper nanoparticle content in the electrodes was controlled by varying the concentration of the Cu(NO3)2 solution from 0.5 to 2 M. Subsequent X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy measurements confirm that cubic copper was formed and the copper nanoparticles were anchored uniformly both on the surface as well as deep within the pores of the wood electrode. Cyclic voltammetry measurements showed that all of the electrodes had a typical pseudo-capacitive behavior, as indicated by the presence of redox reaction peaks. Charge–discharge testing also confirmed the pseudo-capacitive nature of the electrodes. The reversible oxidation of Cu into Cu2O and CuO was verified by performing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at different stages of the charge–discharge cycle. The Cu-loaded wood electrodes exhibited excellent cyclability and retaining 95% of their specific capacitance even after 2000 cycles. A maximum specific capacitance of 888 F/g was observed while discharging the 7 wt% Cu electrode at 200 mA/g in a 2 M KOH electrolyte solution. These results demonstrated the potential of the copper nanoparticle-loaded wood electrodes as cheap and high performance supercapacitor electrodes.