Study of Peat Fillers for their Potential Use in Electric Energy Storage Devices

Tver State Technical University, A. Nikitin Street, 22, 170026, Tver, Russia

^* Corresponding author: oleg.misnikov@gmail.com

Abstract

The article discusses the pros and cons of modern devices for power accumulating and its storage (supercapacitors). The author analyses porous carbon materials traditionally used as fillers in such devices. The presented main physical and chemical properties of peat allow the author to propose a working hypothesis about the possibility of using peat sorbents in supercapacitors. This is possible due to the high specific surface area of peat and by the presence of particles with a double electric layer (micelles) in it. For the first time ever, it was experimentally established that the use of a bog peat sorbent instead of activated carbon as a porous material makes it possible to multiply the voltage during self-discharge of an experimental model of a supercapacitor. The size of the peat sorbent fractions does not significantly affect the self-discharge process. However, there is a slight improvement in the performance of the device when using the fractions under 1.25 mm. The use of peat raw materials with a high degree of decomposition significantly improves the characteristics of the experimental model at a charging voltage of 10 V.