SELF-ADHESIVE CARBON GRAINS DERIVED FROM FIBERS OF OIL PALM EMPTY FRUIT BUNCHES FOR BINDERLESS CARBON/CARBON NANOTUBES COMPOSITE ELECTRODES FOR SUPERCAPACITOR APPLICATION

Abstract

Amongst the current trend in the study of carbon composite electrodes is the addition of carbon nano particles, without binding materials, into conventional carbon to produce electrode in order to benefit from both the unique property of the nano particles and the absent of the binder which can improve the specific capacitance of the electrodes. In our study, we produce the binderless carbon/carbon nanotubes composite electrodes for supercapacitor application from the green pellets consist of self-adhesive carbon grain from fibers of oil palm empty fruit bunch and 0, 6 and 8% carbon nanotubes (CNTs), respectively. This paper reports the electrodes properties, i.e., microstructure, electrical conductivity, porosity and electrochemical, based on the characterization using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope, four-point-probe, nitrogen adsorption desorption isotherm, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry techniques. The results show that supercapacitor cell using the electrodes with 6% CNTs has a better supercapacitive behavior.