A novel separator material derived from discarded disposable medical mask waste for supercapacitor applications

ABSTRACT

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak occurring approximately 2019–2022 required everyone to wear a mask to reduce the number of transmissions of this virus; thus, the use of disposable medical masks has increased very sharply. As a result, the use of disposable medical masks produces a large amount of mask waste, which leads to negative effects on biosafety and the environment. To address this problem, in this work, for the first time, disposable medical mask waste was used as a separator material in supercapacitor devices. The aim of this work was to utilize discarded medical mask waste as a separator material in supercapacitor devices, and its performance was compared with that of eggshell membrane-based separators. The morphological structure of the separator materials revealed similar morphologies based on the SEM image. The electrochemical performance results showed large specific capacitances of 254 F g⁻¹, 299 F g⁻¹, and 205 F g⁻¹ for YCCFs-MW1, YCCFs-MW2, and YCCFs-MW3, respectively. This work showed that disposable medical mask waste has huge potential for use as a separator in supercapacitor devices based on its electrochemical performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Disposable medical mask waste
• separator materials
• young coconut coir waste
• electrode materials
• supercapacitor

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the DRTPM–Kemdikbudristek through the first year fundamental research grant (Contract no: 157/E5/PG.02.00. PL/2023 and 1547/UN19.5.1.3/AL.04/2023).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2024.2337925.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Direktorat Riset, Teknologi, dan Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat–Direktorat Jenderal Pendidikan Tinggi Kementerian Pendidikan, Kebudayaan, Riset, dan Teknologi Republik Indonesia [157/E5/PG.02.00.PL/2023].

Notes on contributors

Awitdrus Awitdrus

Awitdrus Awitdrus is a lecturer at the Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Riau, Indonesia. His research focuses on the development of electrochemical energy storage devices, especially supercapacitor based on activated carbon from biomaterials.

Agustino Agustino

Agustino Agustino is a research assistant at the Material Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Riau, Indonesia.

Angela Carolina Simanjuntak

Angela Carolina Simanjuntak is an under graduate student from the Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Riau, Indonesia.

Rakhmawati Farma

Rakhmawati Farma is a lecturer and professor, as well as the secretary in the Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Riau, Indonesia. Her research focuses on the electrochemical energy storage devices, specifically supercapacitor.

Iwantono Iwantono

Iwantono Iwantono is a lecturer and professor at the Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Riau, Indonesia. His research focuses on the development of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC).

Mohamad Deraman

Mohamad Deraman is a lecturer and professor at the Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia. His research focuses on the development of electrochemical energy storage devices, especially supercapacitor.