Abstract:
Porous carbons were prepared from the biomass waste rambutan peels using hydrothermal carbonization followed by
the KOH activation process. Rambutan peel derived porous carbons (RPC) with high surface area of 2104 m2
g−
1 and
large pore volume of 1.2 cm3
g−
1 were obtained at KOH/carbon ratio of 4 and activation temperature of 900 °C. The asobtained
porous carbons were capable of encapsulating sulfur with a high loading of 68.2 wt% to form RPC/S composite
cathode for lithium sulfur (Li–S) battery. High specific discharge capacities of about 1275 mAh g−
1 were demonstrated by
the RPC/S composites at 0.1 C. After 200 cycles at 0.1 C, a high specific capacity of 936 mAh g−
1 was maintained, showing
an excellent capacity retention of about 73%.
