Microwave-Pyrolysed Rice Husk-Derived Activated Carbon as a Sustainable Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Half-Cell Batteries

Surib , Nur Atiqah
Mohd Abdah, Muhammad Amirul Aizat
Farhana Syakirah Ismail
Wong, Weng Pin
Ab Latif, Farah Ezzah
Mustafa, Muhammad Norhaffis
Rashmi Walvekar
Mohammad Khalid

Advance Sustainable Science, Engineering and Technology (ASSET)
Vol. 8 No. 2 (2026): February-April

Agricultural waste biomass is explored as a sustainable precursor for activated carbon. In this study, rice husk-derived activated carbon (RHAC) was synthesized via microwave-assisted pyrolysis and KOH activation at 600, 700, and 800 °C. The KOH activation enhanced the thermal stability of the samples, with RHAC_700 exhibiting a spongy, interconnected structure and a surface area of 390.33 m² g⁻¹. When evaluated as a half-cell anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, RHAC_700 delivered an initial discharge capacity of approximately 388.33 ± 11.65 mAh g⁻¹  with Coulombic efficiency 68.29 % and stabilized at 250.00 ± 7.33  mAh g⁻¹ with 99.82% of Coulombic efficiency after 100 cycles at 0.2 A g⁻¹ and 25 °C (active material loading: 0.95 ± 0.15 mg cm⁻²). All reported values represent the average of three independent cells. Furthermore, RHAC_700 demonstrated good rate capability, retaining capacities from 248.33 ± 7.45 mAh g⁻¹ to 134.58 ± 4.04 mAh g⁻¹ at current densities ranging from 0.2 to 1.0 A g-1.