Synergistic Effects of K₂CO₃ and Melamine on Enhancing the Performance of Date Stone-Derived Supercapacitors

Biomass-derived carbon materials play a crucial role in advancing electrochemical energy storage technologies toward a cleaner and more sustainable future. This study investigates the potential of date stone biomass as a sustainable precursor for fabricating high-performance supercapacitor electrodes. A two-stage pyrolysis process is utilized, incorporating K₂CO₃ as an activating agent and melamine as a nitrogen dopant. The synergistic interaction of these additives results in an activated carbon material with a significantly improved surface area, pore volume, and nitrogen content. The electrochemical analysis reveals a high specific capacitance of 209.36 F g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹, excellent cycling stability over 5000 cycles at 10 A g⁻¹, and high energy and power densities (24.47 Wh kg⁻¹ at 2500 W kg⁻¹). This study demonstrates the feasibility of utilizing date stone biomass as a renewable resource for advanced carbon-based materials in energy storage applications, contributing to a more sustainable future.