Composite of biomass-derived material and conductive material excluding conducting polymer material

The use of biomass-derived carbons (BDCs) to prepare high-performance supercapacitors has been extensively investigated. In addition to activated BDCs, composites of BDCs to enhance electrode performance are also receiving the attention of researchers. In this chapter we limit our discussion to those BDC composites containing conductive materials, excluding conducting polymers as additives. The conductive substance helps to increase the conductivity, and good charge/discharge capability of BDCs electrode and composite formation increases the specific surface area and ability to store a large amount of charge. Incorporating conductive additives (i.e. metal, metal sulfide, carbon nanotubes (CNT) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO)) reduces the internal resistance of BDCs and provides a high specific capacitance value. Composites of BDCs material often integrate the charge storage mechanism of electrochemical double layer capacitor (EDLC) and pseudocapacitor, hence improving the energy density of the BDCs electrode. This chapter explains the composites of biomass-derived materials and conductive materials, excluding conducting polymers, for supercapacitors applications.