Ultrasound-assisted uniform deposition of Au nanoparticles on biomass derived activated carbon for high performance supercapacitors.
4 affiliations
- 1The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, Center of Excellence on Energy Technology and Environment, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangmod, Tungkru, Bangkok 10140, Thailand.
- 2Advanced Polymer Technology Research Group, National Metal and Materials Technology Center, 114 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Rd., Khlong Nueng, Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand.
- 3Graduate School of Engineering Science, Akita University, 1-1 Tegatagakuen-machi, Akita 010-8502, Japan.
- 4The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, Center of Excellence on Energy Technology and Environment, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangmod, Tungkru, Bangkok 10140, Thailand. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract
Biomass-derived activated carbon is a promising sustainable electrode material for supercapacitors; however, improving its electrochemical performance requires effective surface modification while preserving its porous structure. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are attractive modifiers, but their effectiveness strongly depends on particle size and dispersion. In this study, high-frequency ultrasonic irradiation (200 kHz) generates acoustic cavitation to promote AuNP deposition on rice-straw-soluble-derived activated carbon, and its effect is compared with conventional magnetic stirring. Cavitation-induced micro-mixing and enhanced interfacial mass transfer facilitate Au precursor transport and nucleation while suppressing particle growth and coalescence. A control experiment demonstrates that ultrasonic irradiation alone increases structural disorder without improving capacitive performance, indicating that the beneficial effect of ultrasound primarily arises from its role in controlling AuNP deposition. Quantitative TEM analysis shows that ultrasound-assisted deposition produces smaller and more uniformly distributed AuNPs (26.88 nm) than magnetic stirring (81.79 nm), which causes pronounced agglomeration. The optimized ACAu-20-60-ul electrode retains a high specific surface area of 2180 m² g⁻¹ and delivers 387F g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹, representing a 66% enhancement over pristine AC700 (233F g⁻¹). In a symmetric device, ACAu-20-60-ul achieves 160F g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹ and 22.2 Wh kg⁻¹ at 500 W kg⁻¹, with 96.5% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles. These results demonstrate that acoustic cavitation effectively controls AuNP formation and dispersion, providing an effective sonochemical strategy for engineering high-performance biomass-derived carbon electrodes.
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BibTeX
@article{tocuweang2026ultrasoundassisted,
title = {{Ultrasound-assisted uniform deposition of Au nanoparticles on biomass derived activated carbon for high performance supercapacitors.}},
author = {Tippapon Tocuweang and Darunee Aussawasathien and Hirokazu Okawa and Nakorn Worasuwannarak},
journal = {Ultrasonics sonochemistry},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.ultsonch.2026.108104},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42880195},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Ultrasound-assisted uniform deposition of Au nanoparticles on biomass derived activated carbon for high performance supercapacitors.
AU - Tippapon Tocuweang
AU - Darunee Aussawasathien
AU - Hirokazu Okawa
AU - Nakorn Worasuwannarak
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - Ultrasonics sonochemistry
DO - 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2026.108104
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42880195
AB - Biomass-derived activated carbon is a promising sustainable electrode material for supercapacitors; however, improving its electrochemical performance requires effective surface modification while preserving its porous structure. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are attractive modifiers, but their effectiveness strongly depends on particle size and dispersion. In this study, high-frequency ultrasonic irradiation (200 kHz) generates acoustic cavitation to promote AuNP deposition on rice-straw-soluble-derived activated carbon, and its effect is compared with conventional magnetic stirring. Cavitation-induced micro-mixing and enhanced interfacial mass transfer facilitate Au precursor transport and nucleation while suppressing particle growth and coalescence. A control experiment demonstrates that ultrasonic irradiation alone increases structural disorder without improving capacitive performance, indicating that the beneficial effect of ultrasound primarily arises from its role in controlling AuNP deposition. Quantitative TEM analysis shows that ultrasound-assisted deposition produces smaller and more uniformly distributed AuNPs (26.88 nm) than magnetic stirring (81.79 nm), which causes pronounced agglomeration. The optimized ACAu-20-60-ul electrode retains a high specific surface area of 2180 m² g⁻¹ and delivers 387F g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹, representing a 66% enhancement over pristine AC700 (233F g⁻¹). In a symmetric device, ACAu-20-60-ul achieves 160F g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹ and 22.2 Wh kg⁻¹ at 500 W kg⁻¹, with 96.5% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles. These results demonstrate that acoustic cavitation effectively controls AuNP formation and dispersion, providing an effective sonochemical strategy for engineering high-performance biomass-derived carbon electrodes.
SN - 1350-4177
SN - 1873-2828
ER -