Phytoplankton derived and KOH activated mesoporous carbon materials for supercapacitors

An activated phytoplankton-derived carbon (APDC) based material was successfully synthesized from phytoplankton for the first time via a simple and low-cost method, to the best of our knowledge. The specific surface area (SBET) value of APDC is as high as 482 m2 g−1. In addition, the as-prepared APDC-based supercapacitor (SC) electrode displays high area capacitance of 130 mF cm−2 at the current density of 2 mA cm−2, and the SC device based on APDC electrode reveals good capacitance performance and prominent cycling stability (92% retention after 10,000 cycles), demonstrating a promising application for SCs. The high supercapacitor performance is attributed to the KOH activation process which brings higher surface area and mesoporous structure.