Transforming Radiology Waste into Energy Wealth Using Super Capacitor

The challenge presented by fossil fuel energy usage and rising costs of energy storage materials has spurred the development of notably inexpensive and eco-friendly materials for energy storage. In this situation, the activated carbon derived from coconut shells through a straightforward activation process served as the active material in electrodes for environmentally conscious supercapacitors. Advanced studies using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy have confirmed that the activated carbon produced through this method exhibits a graphitic phase. Electrodes fabricated from this activated carbon demonstrated a specific capacitance of 8.99 F g−1 in an aqueous electrolyte (1.5 M H2SO4), utilizing expanded graphite sheets as the current collector substrates. Notably, when these electrodes were assembled with a polyethylene separator and used in a configuration that included charge collection from primary, scatter radiation, and electrolyte, they exhibited impressive storage capabilities and energy-power handling capacities. Specifically, they achieved a capacitance of 8.99 F g−1, a specific energy of 4.4860 W h kg−1, and a power density of 53.832 kW kg−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1. These high-performance values were maintained even at 30 A g−1, demonstrating the potential for broad applications in energy and power storage. After irradiation the super capacitor reaching the capacitance of 26.55 F g−1, a specific energy of 13.2484 W h kg−1, and a power density of 158.981 kW kg−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1. To our knowledge, this represents a novel method for creating supercapacitors using activated carbon, which is derived from scatter radiation, to enhance charge collection.