Mesoporous electrode from human hair and bio-based gel polymer electrolyte for high-performance supercapacitor

This work reports a facile and scalable method for assembling a supercapacitor. Cost-effective solid-state supercapacitor contrived by combining waste biomass human hair derived activated carbon (HHCK) as an electrode and albumen (egg white gel polymer) in 1 M NaCl electrolyte (1 M NaCl-EWG). Human hair as an electrode precursor and egg white as a gel polymer precursor provide a sustainable approach for biomass-based material's cost-effective and eco-friendly utilization. Human hair derived interconnected three-dimensional hierarchal porous carbon of human hair possessed a high specific surface area of 1466 m 2 g −1 along with the incorporation of ~23% heteroatoms into the carbon matrix. The solid-state supercapacitor (HE-SC) exhibits high specific capacitance of 491 F g −1 at 1 A g −1 within a wide electrochemical stable potential window of 1.5 V. HE-SC provided a high energy density of 38.4 W h kg −1 at 0.374 kW kg −1 power density, quick charge-discharge ability (time constant was 4.3 s), and high cyclic stability (86% capacitance retention with 95% coulombic efficiency after 6500 cycles). This current research provides a feasible and effective strategy for preparing low-cost and high-performance supercapacitors utilizing waste biomass. • Heteroatoms decorated mesoporous activated carbon material derived from human hair. • Egg white gel polymer electrolyte for leakage proof high potential supercapacitor. • HE-SC supercapacitor shows a very high specific capacitance of 491 F g −1 . • HE-SC exhibits high energy density of 38.4 W h kg −1 at 374 W kg −1 power density.