High-Performance Zinc-Ion Hybrid Supercapacitor from Guilin Sanhua Liquor Lees-Derived Carbon Materials

Aqueous zinc-ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZHSCs) have attracted considerable attention because they are inexpensive and safe. However, the inadequate energy densities, power densities, and cycling performance of current ZHSC energy-storage devices are impediments that need to be overcome to enable the further development and commercialization of this technology. To address these issues, in this study, we prepared carbon-based ZHSCs using a series of porous carbon materials derived from Sanhua liquor lees (SLPCs). Among them, the best performance was observed for SLPC-A13, which exhibited excellent properties and a high-surface-area structure (2667 m2 g–1) with abundant micropores. The Zn//SLPC-A13 device was assembled by using 2 mol L–1 ZnSO4, SLPC-A13, and Zn foil as the electrolyte, cathode, and anode, respectively. The Zn//SLPC-A13 device delivered an ultrahigh energy density of 137 Wh kg–1 at a power density of 462 W kg–1. Remarkably, Zn//SLPC-A13 retained 100% of its specific capacitance after 120,000 cycles of long-term charge/discharge testing, with 62% retained after 250,000 cycles. This outstanding performance is primarily attributed to the SLPC-A13 carbon material, which promotes the rapid adsorption and desorption of ions, and the charge–discharge process, which roughens the Zn anode in a manner that improves reversible Zn-ion plating/stripping efficiency. This study provides ideas for the preparation of ZHSC cathode materials.