Synthesis of graphitic carbon derived oil palm frond biomass for supercapacitor application

Carbon-based materials were typically used for the fabrication of commercial supercapacitor devices. Usually, carbon is derived from petroleum-based precursors. A biobased precursor was seen as an alternative option and were also renewable. A significant contributor to environmental pollution, the oil palm frond (OPF) is commonly discarded as waste, particularly in Malaysia. This study presents an approach to convert OPF into valuable graphitic carbon (GC) through a one-step pyrolysis process at a relatively low temperature (450, 550, and 650 °C) that reduces the energy required for calcination. Characterization techniques such as SEM, XRD, FTIR, and BET confirmed the resulting GC porous structure where optimized GC-650 showed SBET 334.55 m²g-1, pore diameter of 2.33 nm, and high graphitization degree. The electrochemical evaluation using GC-650 electrode showed excellent specific capacitance (CS) behaviour comprising 178 F g-1 at 1 A g-1. Stability tests was conducted at 5 A g-1 for 1000 cycles shown capacitive retention of 97, 96, and 95% for GC-450, GC-550, and GC-650 electrodes, respectively. Considering the simplicity of the process and the utilization of OPF waste as a promising material, this approach holds promise for the production of GC for energy storage applications.