Preparation of heteroatom-doped nanoporous activated carbon from apricot kernel shell for supercapacitors and investigation of its physicochemical properties

Due to global warming and depletion of fossil fuels, studies on low-cost, renewable and environmentally friendly energy conversion and storage systems have gained great importance. Supercapacitors are considered to be one of the important energy storage systems compared to electrochemical batteries with their high power density, high charge and discharge efficiency and long cycle life features. Due to their high specific surface area, pore size, high physicochemical stability and electrochemical performance, carbon-based porous materials are widely used for electrode materials. In order to improve the surface properties and charge storage capacity of activated carbons, they are activated with hetero atoms such as phosphorus, sulfur and nitrogen. Within the scope of this thesis, activated carbon produced from sulfurized and unsulfurized apricot kernel shells was doped with phosphoric acid and its effect on its usability and performance as a supercapacitor was investigated. Elemental, thermal, spectroscopic, microscopic and surface analyses of phosphorus-doped activated carbon were performed to investigate the supercapacitor performances. Supercapacitors were produced by treating activated carbons produced from sulfurized and unsulfurized apricot kernels with different concentrations of H3PO4 without any treatment and then their capacitance values were investigated. It was found that the capacitance value of the activated carbon produced from sulfurized apricot kernel shells was 5 times higher than that of the unsulfurized one. It was found that the capacitance values of the supercapacitors produced from sulfurized and unsulfurized activated carbons treated with H3PO4 were close to each other.