Synthesis Routes of Sulfur-doped Porous Carbon from Mask Wastes for the Application of Supercapacitor Electrodes

Increasing demand of energy storage devices stimulates growing research in supercapacitors technologies. Waste-based supercapacitor electrodes has become one of areas to be explored as they offer an environmentally friendly approach. Here we synthesis porous carbon from wastes of medical masks which have been generated a lot since the pandemic. Medical masks are composed of polypropylene which have high porosity; hence they have a potential to be used as a porous carbon source for supercapacitor applications. The synthesis routes include a solvothermal process inside a Teflon autoclave in a microwave and a washing process using dilute acid solution and distilled water. The routes successfully transform polypropylene to porous carbon, confirmed by XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDX and Raman spectrum analyses. The present of C-S bond are indicated from FTIR spectrum, implying a successful doping of sulphur into porous carbon. The electrochemical analysis of the prepared electrode using cyclic voltammetry shows an EDLC-like feature with high specific capacitance of ∼375 Fg-1 at the scan rate of 5 mV/s.