The template effect of silica in rice husk for efficient synthesis of the activated carbon based electrode material

Abstract Development of the synthesis methods of rice husk-based activated carbon (AC) as electrode materials by utilizing the natural silica template effect has been of special interests for high quality electrode material design. To enhance the silica template efficiency, a selective leaching out of the useless silica exposed on sample surface using NaOH solution at a moderate condition was adopted. The actual silica template located within the sample could be preserved and work with alkali activators to open the firm carbon texture, offer more active sites for pore generation, and therefore could improve the specific capacitance. The electrochemical performance of the prepared AC products was thoroughly characterized and a high specific capacitance together with extraordinary cycling stability was observed. This strategy offered an applicable way to facilitate industrial synthesis of high quality AC based electrodes for advanced supercapacitors.