ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Assessment of Dead Sea water as a natural electrolyte in supercapacitors

Allan Daraghmeh, Kholoud Bourini, Heba Nassar, Shahzad Hussain, Iyad Saadeddin, and Hikmat S. Hilal

Department of Physics, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine

E-mail: allan.d@najah.edu

Received: 29 October 2025  Accepted: 1 January 2026

Abstract:

Eco-friendly, low-cost activated carbons are useful in supercapacitors, but exhibit low power-output density with high resistance. Naturally occurring electrolytes were assessed in supercapacitors here. An activated carbon/carbon nanofiber (AC/CNF) composite electrode was evaluated using natural Dead Sea water (DSW) in comparison with 6.0 M KOH, and 1.0 M H₂SO₄. Specific capacitance (C_s), energy density (E_d) and power density (P_d) were analysed, focusing on Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). At 5 mV/s scan rate, cyclic voltammetry showed highest C_s 157.8 F/g for 6.0 M KOH, but differences diminished at higher-scan rates. Galvanostatic charge/discharge revealed that DSW achieved highest C_s of 81.4 F/g at 0.4 A/g. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy indicated that DSW exhibited lowest equivalent-series resistance at 0.68 Ω and highest knee frequency (f₀ = 0.125 Hz), demonstrating rapid resistive-to-capacitive behaviour transition with cycling stability. The results confirm DSW as a useful sustainable effective alternative to synthetic electrolytes in supercapacitor applications.

Keywords: Dead Sea water electrolyte; Supercapacitor electrode; Carbon nanofiber; Activated carbon

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-026-04639-2

Chemical Papers 80 (4) 3641–3659 (2026)