Microwave-assisted preparation of novel graphene-like carbon material from waste bamboo for high-performance supercapacitors

Graphene-like carbon material was rapidly synthesized from waste bamboo stem as raw material with assistance of microwave heating and KHCO3 acting as both catalyst and activating agent. The graphene-like carbon material was composed of graphene-like nano sheets with high degree of graphitization, which had porous structure with specific surface area of 1887 m2/g. The product was evaluated as electrode material for supercapacitor and showed excellent electrochemical performance. At a current density of 0.5 A/g, the specific capacitance reached 204.0 F/g in the three-electrode system. After 10,000 cycles at 10.0 A/g current density, the maximum specific capacitance of a single electrode was 139.0 F/g, with the specific capacitance retention of 93.83%. While at a current density of 0.5 A/g, the maximum specific capacitance was 75.9 F/g in the coin-type symmetric supercapacitor, and after 5000 cycles at 10.0 A/g current density, the capacitance retention was 94.02%, showing a high capacitance retention. The experimental results indicated that microwave-assisted catalytic graphitization was a simple and fast process and it could potentially serve as an excellent green and low-cost methodology for preparation of graphene-like carbon material having good quality.