Issue 25, 2025, Issue in Progress

Upcycling distillery waste: N, P, Fe Co-doped porous biochar from excess sludge of sauce-flavor liquor for high-performance supercapacitors

Abstract

Enhancing supercapacitor performance by incorporating heteroatoms into biochar represents a fascinating strategy. Our study presented an uncomplicated process for creating porous biochar simultaneously doped with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and iron (Fe). The source material was excess sludge from sauce-flavor liquor production, which conveniently provided high initial N and Fe content for the resulting biochar. The phosphorus originated from phytic acid, while gentle activation was achieved using potassium carbonate (K2CO3). We found that adjusting the K2CO3 proportion and activation heating allowed precise control over the final material's characteristics, including its pore network, surface chemistry, plus the ultimate N, P, and Fe levels. Through electrochemical assessment, the N, P, Fe/BC-700-2 sample demonstrated superior performance, exhibiting a specific capacitance up to 141.7 F g−1 when tested at a 1 A g−1 current density in 6 M KOH electrolyte. This efficacy stemmed from several contributing elements: a large specific surface area (BET, 824.5 m2 g−1), abundant structural imperfections coupled with extensive mesoporosity, and advantageous synergistic effects arising from N, P, Fe co-incorporation. This investigation demonstrates that transforming sauce-flavor liquor excess sludge (SFLS) into heteroatom-enriched biochar not only offers significant promise for developing advanced supercapacitor electrode materials but also provides a sustainable pathway for valorizing problematic industrial waste.

Graphical abstract: Upcycling distillery waste: N, P, Fe Co-doped porous biochar from excess sludge of sauce-flavor liquor for high-performance supercapacitors

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 Apr 2025
Accepted
03 Jun 2025
First published
11 Jun 2025
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2025,15, 19826-19835

Upcycling distillery waste: N, P, Fe Co-doped porous biochar from excess sludge of sauce-flavor liquor for high-performance supercapacitors

S. Luo, J. Li, M. Yang, P. Zeng and Y. Wu, RSC Adv., 2025, 15, 19826 DOI: 10.1039/D5RA02656C

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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