Sugarcane waste-derived electrode fabrication for supercapacitor and Li-S battery

Concerning energy security as well as increasing use of fossil fuels, renewable energy sources are getting a lot of attention. However, energy production requires low cost, high-performance energy storage systems. For this reason, the development of such energy storage devices such as supercapacitors and lithium–sulfur (Li-S) batteries is needed. In this work, bio-renewable sugarcane bagasse and leaves were used for the preparation of carbon-based materials, namely activated carbon, which were then utilized for active materials in supercapacitors and Li-S batteries. In addition to the activated carbon, carbon dots were obtained and added to molasses, a by-product of sugar production, in order to prepare the supercapacitor electrolyte. The electrochemical properties of supercapacitors and Li-S batteries were examined using electrochemical analysis. Overall, this work highlights the material characteristics and improvement methods of biomass electrodes and electrolytes to develop high-performance, low-cost, and environmentally friendly energy storage devices.