Effect of carbonization temperature on the physical and electrochemical properties of supercapacitor electrode from fibers of oil palm empty fruit bunches

Self-adhesive carbon grains (SACG) was prepared from fibers of oil palm empty fruit bunches. The SACG green monoliths were carbonized in N2 environment at 400, 500, 600 and 700°C to produce carbon monoliths labeled as CM1, CM2, CM3 and CM4 respectively. The CMs were activated in CO2 surrounding at 800°C for 1 hour to produce activated carbon monolith electrodes (ACM1, ACM2, ACM3 and ACM4). The physical properties of the CMs and ACMs were investigated using X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm techniques. ACMs were used as electrode to fabricate symmetry supercapacitor cells and the cells’ performances were investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) standard techniques. In this paper we report the physical and electrochemical properties of the ACM electrodes by analyzing the influence of the carbonization temperature on these properties.