Utilization of shea butter waste-derived hierarchical activated carbon for high-performance supercapacitor applications.

[Display omitted] • Two-stage activation was used to synthesize oxygen-rich interconnected carbon. • High purity activated carbon with high surface area was synthesized. • A high energy density supercapacitor device was assembled. • The device successful lit an LED bulb during real-life practical applications. In this work, carbonization and subsequent activation procedures were adopted to synthesize waste shea butter shells into oxygen-rich interconnected porous activated carbon (SAC_ x, x is the mass ratio of KOH used for activation). The SAC_1.5 electrode material showed outstanding electrochemical performance with high specific capacitance (286.6 F/g) and improved rate capability, owing to various synergistic effects originating from a high specific surface area (1233.5 m2/g) and O-rich content. The SAC_1.5-based symmetric device delivered an impressive specific capacitance of 91.6 F/g with a high energy density of 12.7 Wh/kg at 0.5 A/g. The device recorded 99.9 % capacitance retention after 10,000 charge-discharge cycles. The symmetric supercapacitor device successfully lit an LED bulb for more than 1 h, signifying the potential of bio-waste as an efficient carbon precursor for electrode material in practical supercapacitors. This work offers an efficient, affordable, and environmentally friendly strategy for potential renewable energy storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]