Determination of the use potential of carbon aerogels from waste biomasses as energy storage material

Carbonaceous materials are widely used in energy storage and conversion systems due to their porous structure and electrical conductivity. Carbonaceous materials produced from natural biomass are of great interest due to their extensive and sustainable resources and low cost. Carbon aerogels, which are aimed to be obtained from cellulose-based biomass wastes, have many areas of use due to their good electrical and thermal properties, their macro-micropores and their controllable structural properties. From this point of view, carbon airgel was produced from waste pomegranate peels, which is a type of waste biomass, and its characterizations were carried out. In the study; Two different methods were used for the production of carbon aerogels. In the first method, carbon airgel was produced by pyrolysis after freeze-drying. In the second method, the hydrothermal carbonization method was used in addition to the first method. In both methods, experimental studies were carried out by choosing pyrolysis temperatures of 400-600-800 °C and heating rate of 5 °C/min. At the last stage, the density determination of the produced carbon aerogels, elemental analysis, FT-IR, Raman, TGA, DSC, XRD and SEM analyzes and characterization of the products were made. In parallel, the two methods were compared and the carbon aerogels with the best structural properties were tried to be determined. It has been determined by characterization studies that the structural properties of carbon aerogels obtained by hydrothermal carbonization are superior and have more stable carbon structures. As a result, the hydrothermal carbonization process increases the mass and energy value of biomass for the synthesis of carbon aerogels and their use in energy storage.