A novel carbon microtubes derived from the used surgical face mask for the Ni-F/FMs symmetric supercapacitor device

Abstract

The emergence of COVID-19 had an unprecedented impact on society, leading to the widespread usage and disposal of surgical face masks (FMs). This work contributes to repurposing FMs into carbon materials through simplified solvothermal-assisted pyrolysis processes for supercapacitor applications. XRD and FESEM were employed to investigate the materials' microstructural and micrographic characteristics. The FM 700 has a specific capacitance value of 182.61 Fg−1, more significant than the other produced sample in the 1 M KOH electrolyte. The symmetric solid-state supercapacitor with a maximum capacitance of 92.67 Fg−1 is constructed under perfect circumstances. After 10,000 cycles, FM 700-SSSD maintained 89 % of its value. Turning FMs into carbon materials for energy storage applications is made more accessible by this method and also prevents the environment from pollution.

Keywords

• Surgical face mask
• Microtube
• Supercapacitor
• Environmental protection