Highly Carbonized, Porous Activated Carbon Derived from Ziziphus Jujuba for Energy Storage

Porous carbon is used as an electrode for the energy storage devices. Here, the development of a highly porous carbon electrode is based on the ziziphus jujuba seed, in which the seed content is abundant in comparison to the fruit part. This material has been chosen in order to make the electrode more economical and sustainable. The carbonized ziziphus jujuba seed electrode has been prepared by carbonization and KOH activation. The structural performance of the material is evaluated using XRD, SEM, and elemental analysis. From the structural analyses, high carbon (79.79%), amorphous (broad peak between 22 and 24°), and layered activated carbon is observed. The electrode performance was evaluated with aqueous electrolyte (6 M KOH) using cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge discharge method and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The electrochemical performance of the ziziphus jujuba seed is due to its porous structure. The CZJS electrode exhibited a specific capacitance of 55.56, 47.62, 16.67, 5.56 Fg−1 at 1, 2, 4, and 10 A g−1, respectively. This work shows a way to use abundant waste material (seeds of ziziphus jujuba) into a useful energy storage.