A substantial amount of food waste is generated annually, making its effective valorization critically important. This study aims to produce hard carbon from model food waste through a process involving solvothermal treatment and subsequent carbonization steps. The resulting material was then evaluated for its suitability as an electrode material for supercapacitors by analyzing its fundamental properties. Hard carbon is an amorphous carbonaceous material that resists graphitization even at temperatures exceeding 3000°C and typically possesses a high surface area, making it promising for supercapacitor applications. Model food waste was first converted into heavy bio-oils via solvothermal treatment using organic solvents such as methanol and acetone. The obtained bio-oils were subsequently solidified into carbonaceous material through vacuum heating, followed by an activation process to yield the final hard carbon. Comprehensive characterization was performed using proximate and ultimate analyses, FTIR, BET, TGA, ICP-OES, SEM, and cyclic voltammetry. The impact of different organic solvents on structural and electrochemical properties of the produced hard carbon was investigated and discussed based on these analytical findings.
