Convert waste petroleum coke to multi-heteroatom self-doped graphene and its application as supercapacitors

Emergent Materials (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Graphene is being suggested as a replacement for activated carbon in energy storage devices ranging from supercapacitors to batteries. The generation of multi-heteroatom self-doped graphene structure from waste materials will be an efficient way to meet the energy requirements with its productive applications in energy devices. Here, we present a novel, high-yield synthetic strategy to prepare multi-heteroatom self-doped highly porous graphene nanosheet from Pet coke (petroleum coke). Following a comprehensive characterization of graphene using electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and its functionality in supercapacitor application is reported. The electrochemical performance of Pet graphene, in combination with 1 M H2SO4, is able to deliver specific capacitance as high as ~ 170 F/g in 0.5 A/g current density, with low equivalent series resistance. The fabricated symmetric device exhibited a maximum specific capacitance of 44 F/g at 0.5 A/g current density with an excellent energy density of ~ 8.8 Wh/Kg along with a power density of ~ 800 W/Kg at 0.5 A/g current density. The fabricated device also shows high cycling stability and Coulombic efficiency. The results establish a new protocol for the large-scale synthesis of graphene from carbonaceous waste materials, making it competitive with its low-cost counterparts.

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Acknowledgments

AC acknowledges DST (India) under its Materials for Energy Storage (MES) Program. Conflict of Interest to fund the project: Hierarchically Nanostructured Energy Materials for Next Generation Na-ion Based Energy Storage Technologies and their Use in Renewable Energy Systems [DST/TMD/MES/2 K16/77]. Partha Kumbhakar and C.S.T. acknowledges AOARD grant no. FA2386-19-1-4039. C.S.T. acknowledges Ramanujan fellowship.

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    Affiliations

    1. Indian Institute of Technology, School of Nano Science and Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, 721302, India

      Debabrata Mandal & Preeti Lata Mahapatra

    2. Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, 721302, India

      Rashmi Kumari & Basudev Lahiri

    3. Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, 721302, India

      Partha Kumbhakar & Chandra Sekhar Tiwary

    4. Research and Development Division, Tata Steel Limited, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, 831001, India

      Arijit Biswas

    5. Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, 721302, India

      Amreesh Chandra

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    1. Debabrata Mandal
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    D. Mandal and P.L. Mahapatra contributed equally to this work.

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    Mandal, D., Mahapatra, P.L., Kumari, R. et al. Convert waste petroleum coke to multi-heteroatom self-doped graphene and its application as supercapacitors. emergent mater. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42247-020-00159-1

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    Keywords

    • Pet coke
    • Graphene
    • Multi-heteroatom
    • Porous structure
    • Energy storage
    • Supercapacitors