Abstract
Biochar derived from waste biomass has proven to be an encouraging novel electrode material in supercapacitors. In this work, luffa sponge-derived activated carbon with a special structure is produced through carbonization and KOH activation. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and manganese dioxide (MnO(2)) are in-situ synthesized on luffa-activated carbon (LAC) to improve the supercapacitive behavior. The structure and morphology of LAC, LAC-rGO and LAC-rGO-MnO(2) are characterized by the employment of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET analysis, Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The electrochemical performance of electrodes is performed in two and three-electrode systems. In the asymmetrical two-electrode system, the LAC-rGO-MnO(2)//Co(3)O(4)-rGO device shows high specific capacitance (SC), high-rate capability and excellent cycle reversibly in a wide potential window of 0-1.8 V. The maximum specific capacitance (SC) of the asymmetric device is 586 F g(-1) at a scan rate of 2 mV s(-1). More importantly, the LAC-rGO-MnO(2)//Co(3)O(4)-rGO device exhibits a specific energy of 31.4 W h kg(-1) at a specific power of 400 W kg(-1). Overall, the synergistic effect between the ternary structures of microporous LAC, rGO sheets and MnO(2) nanoparticles leads to the introduction of high-performance hierarchical supercapacitor electrodes.