Issue

Vol. 37 No. 6 (2025): Vol 37 Issue 6, 2025

Copyright (c) 2025 C. Rajasekar, Kurinjinathan Panneerselvam, M. Roselin Ranjitha, Raghu Subashchandrabose -, RA. Kalaivani

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

High-Performance Porous Carbon Electrodes from Tea Residues: A Sustainable Approach for Advanced Supercapacitors

https://doi.org/10.14233/ajchem.2025.33732
C. Rajasekar
Department of Chemistry, Vels Institute of Science, Technology & Advanced Studies (VISTAS), Chennai-600117, India
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4164-741X
P. Kurinji Nathan
Department of Physics, PSG College of Arts & Science, Coimbatore-641014, India
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9647-0693
M. Roselin Ranjitha
Department of Chemistry, Stella Maris College (Autonomous) Affiliated to University of Madras, Chennai-600086, India
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2050-5551
S. Raghu
Centre for Advanced Research and Development (CARD)/Chemistry, Vels Institute of Science, Technology & Advanced Studies (VISTAS), Chennai-600117, India
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5348-5353
R.A. Kalaivani
Department of Chemistry, Vels Institute of Science, Technology & Advanced Studies (VISTAS), Chennai-600117, India
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4745-4651

Corresponding Author(s) : S. Raghu

subraghu_0612@yahoo.co.in

Asian Journal of Chemistry, Vol. 37 No. 6 (2025): Vol 37 Issue 6, 2025

Abstract

Carbon electrodes sourced through biomass for application in supercapacitors are currently a significant focus in the development of energy storage devices that prioritize efficiency, environmental sustainability and cost-effectiveness. This investigation highlights a potential avenue for tea residues, concentrating on the conversion of waste to useful resources. Tea residues served as a raw material to produce activated carbon via a simple single-step process, aimed at creating highly efficient electrode material for supercapacitors. The samples were subjected to chemical activation using ZnCl2 at two different temperatures (800 and 900 ºC). Surface area of the two TRAC samples were analyzed using BET technique and noted as 940.14 m2/g and 1158.06 m2/g. The electrochemical investigation was specifically carried out in both aqueous (6 M KOH) and non-aqueous (TEABF4) environments. The TRAC 900 electrode exhibited an impressive specific capacitance of 395.42 F g–1 at 1 A g–1 and displayed exceptional cycling stability, maintaining 96.66% of its capacitance after 16,000 cycles in a non-aqueous environment. Furthermore, the peak power density attained was around 63,000 W kg–1 at an energy density of 35 Wh g–1 when subjected to a higher current density of 10 A g–1. The impressive electrochemical performance suggests that the highly ordered porous carbon electrodes derived from used-tea solid waste represent a promising option for high-performance supercapacitors and exemplify the idea of converting waste into valuable resources.

Keywords

Tea residue Activated carbon Supercapacitors Carbon electrodes
(1)
Rajasekar, C.; Nathan, P. K.; Ranjitha, M. R.; Raghu, S.; Kalaivani, R. High-Performance Porous Carbon Electrodes from Tea Residues: A Sustainable Approach for Advanced Supercapacitors. ajc 2025, 37, 1385-1391.
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
References
  1. M. Winter and R.J. Brodd, Chem. Rev., 104, 4245 (2004); https://doi.org/10.1021/cr020730k
  2. S. Ghosh, R. Santhosh, S. Jeniffer, V. Raghavan, G. Jacob, K. Nanaji, P. Kollu, S.K. Jeong and A.N. Grace, Sci. Rep., 9, 16315 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-52006-x
  3. S. Saini, P. Chand and A. Joshi, J. Energy Storage, 39, 102646 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2021.102646
  4. M. Alzaid, F. Alsalh and M.Z. Iqbal, J. Energy Storage, 40, 102751 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2021.102751
  5. E. Taer, M. Melisa, A. Agustino, R. Taslim, W.S. Mustika and A. Apriwandi, Energy Sources A Recovery Util. Environ. Effects, 47, 9490 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2021.1950871
  6. D. Chen, L. Yang, J. Li and Q. Wu, ChemistrySelect, 4, 1586 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1002/slct.201803413
  7. S.J. Rajasekaran, A.N. Grace, G. Jacob, A. Alodhayb, S. Pandiaraj and V. Raghavan, Catalysts, 13, 286 (2023); https://doi.org/10.3390/catal13020286
  8. L. Sinha and P.M. Shirage, J. Electrochem. Soc., 166, A3496 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1149/2.1251914jes
  9. Y. Song, W. Qu, Y. He, H. Yang, M. Du, A. Wang, Q. Yang and Y. Chen, J. Energy Storage, 32, 101877 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2020.101877
  10. R. Vinodh, C.V.V.M. Gopi, V.G.R. Kummara, R. Atchudan, T. Ahamad, S. Sambasivam, M. Yi, I.M. Obaidat and H.-J. Kim, J. Energy Storage, 32, 101831 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2020.101831
  11. A. Shokry, M. Karim, M. Khalil, S. Ebrahim and J. El Nady, Sci. Rep., 12, 11278 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15477-z
  12. Z. Ren, H. Luo, H. Mao, A. Li, R. Dong, S. Liu and Y. Liu, Chem. Phys. Lett., 760, 138019 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cplett.2020.138019
  13. T. Giannakopoulou, N. Todorova, A. Erotokritaki, N. Plakantonaki, A. Tsetsekou and C. Trapalis, Appl. Surf. Sci., 528, 146801 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2020.146801
  14. L. Zhang, X. Yu, P. Zhu, R. Sun and C. Wong, J. Electroanal. Chem., 876, 114478 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelechem.2020.114478
  15. Y. Gao, S. Zheng, H. Fu, J. Ma, X. Xu, L. Guan, H. Wu and Z.-S. Wu, Carbon, 168, 701 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2020.06.063
  16. N. Cai, H. Cheng, H. Jin, H. Liu, P. Zhang and M. Wang, J. Electroanal. Chem., 861, 113933 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelechem.2020.113933
  17. C. Wang, D. Wu, H. Wang, Z. Gao, F. Xu and K. Jiang, J. Colloid Interface Sci., 523, 133 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2018.03.009
  18. D.R. Lobato-Peralta, E. Duque-Brito, H.O. Orugba, D.M. Arias, A.K. Cuentas-Gallegos, J.A. Okolie and P.U. Okoye, Diamond Rel. Mater., 138, 110176 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diamond.2023.110176
  19. Y. Zhang, Z. Gao, N. Song and X. Li, Electrochim. Acta, 222, 1257 (2016); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2016.11.099
  20. Z. Qin, Y. Ye, D. Zhang, J. He, J. Zhou and J. Cai, ACS Omega, 8, 5088 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c07932
  21. A. Bello, N. Manyala, F. Barzegar, A.A. Khaleed, D.Y. Momodu and J.K. Dangbegnon, RSC Adv., 6, 1800 (2016); https://doi.org/10.1039/C5RA21708C
  22. T.G. Çakmak, B. Saricaoglu, G. Ozkan, M. Tomas and E. Capanoglu, Food Sci. Nutr., 12, 3112 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.4011
  23. B. Li, J. Hu, H. Xiong and Y. Xiao, ACS Omega, 5, 9398 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.0c00461
  24. A. Khan, R.A. Senthil, J. Pan, S. Osman, Y. Sun and X. Shu, Electrochim. Acta, 335, 135588 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2019.135588
  25. H. Zhao, H. Zhong, Y. Jiang, H. Li, P. Tang, D. Li and Y. Feng, Materials, 15, 895 (2022); https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15030895
  26. X.B. Xie, D. Wu, H. Wu, C. Hou, X. Sun, Y. Zhang, R. Yu, S. Zhang, B. Wang and W. Du, J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron., 31, 18077 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-020-04358-8
  27. Y. Yan, S. Manickam, E. Lester, T. Wu and C.H. Pang, Ultrason. Sonochem., 73, 105519 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2021.105519
  28. A. Derylo-Marczewska, K. Skrzypczyñska, K. Kusmierek, A. Swiatkowski and M. Zienkiewicz-Strzalka, Adsorption, 25, 357 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1007/s10450-019-00016-6
  29. M. Danish, T. Ahmad, R. Hashim, N. Said, M.N. Akhtar, J. Mohamad-Saleh and O. Sulaiman, Surf. Interfaces, 11, 1 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfin.2018.02.001
  30. H. Du, Y. Yang, C. Zhang, Y. Li, J. Wang, K. Zhao, C. Lu, D. Sun, C. Lu, S. Chen and X. Ma, J. Power Sources, 614, 234988 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2024.234988
  31. Q. Wang, B. Luo, Z. Wang, Y. Hu and M. Du, Molecules, 29, 5172 (2024); https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29215172
  32. Y. Li, Q. Liu, Q. Zhang, X. Li, Y. Yang, P. Wang, K. Li, Y. Li, F. Zhong, Q. Liu, Y. Zheng, X. Yang and P. Zhao, Green Chem., 26, 12019 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1039/D4GC04103H
  33. T.K. Ghosh, D.L. Singh and G.R. Rao, Electrochim. Acta, 500, 144752 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2024.144752
Read More
Author biographies is not available.
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 160 Download : 114
PlumX