Hierarchical Porous Activated Carbon Derived from Callistemon viminalis Leaf Biochar for Supercapacitor and Methylene Blue Removal Applications
Abstract
Activated carbon derived from biomass has gained excited research attention due to their low cost, ease of availability and eco-friendly nature. In this work, we present hierarchical porous activated carbon derived from the leaves of Callistemon viminalis (C. viminalis) commonly known as ‘Bottlebrush’ plant through a simple carbonization and KOH activation process. The material activated at 700 oC possess enhanced BET surface area (SBET) of 925 m2/g. The activated carbon has been employed as electrode material for supercapacitor which showed promising specific capacitance of 283 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g. Cyclic stability studies revealed a retention of capacitance of 97%. Further, adsorption studies were conducted using Methylene blue (MB) as dye and activated carbon as adsorbent. Adsorption efficiency was found to be 91.2% within one hour and the process was following Langmuir isotherm model. Kinetic studies revealed that the MB adsorption follows pseudo-second order kinetics. Thus, activated carbon derived from C. viminaliscan be employed as a promising candidate for supercapacitor as well as MB removal applications.