Physical and Electrochemical Characteristics of Carbon Monoliths Electrodes from Activation of Pre-carbonized Fibers of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Added with Varying Amount of Polypyrrole

Fibres of oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB), a large quantity waste material generated at palm oil mills, were converted into self-adhesive carbon grains (SACG). KOH treated SACG were added with 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt. % of polypyrrole (PPy) to produce green monoliths (GMs) which were used to obtain activated carbon monoliths (ACMs) electrodes via carbonization (N-2 environment) and activation (CO2 environment) for their application in symmetrical supercapacitors. Various properties of the electrode materials were examined by thermo-gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy techniques. Electrochemical performance of the ACMs as electrodes was tested with 1 M H2SO4 as electrolyte using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge techniques. Addition of (15-20) wt. % of PPy in GMs affects the structure, microstructure and pore structure of the ACMs and consequently leads to an enhancement of similar to(20-50) F g(-1), similar to 3-6 Wh kg(-1) and similar to 96-98 W kg(-1) in specific capacitance (C-sp), specific energy (E) and specific power (P), respectively, with respect to the electrode prepared from GMs without PPy which offers corresponding values of similar to(2-10) F g(-1), 2 Wh kg(-1), and 87 W kg(-1).