N-doped carbon nanotubes derived from waste biomass and its electrochemical performance

•The N-doped CNTs was firstly prepared using biomass as only carbon sources.•The N-doped CNTs shows better electrochemical properties than commercial CNTs.•The proposed approach is simple and readily scalable. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been synthesized by the combination of hydrothermal and calcination techniques using the available and recyclable plant typha orientalis as precursor. As a new type of energy storage device, supercapacitors play an important role in the field of electronic devices. Compared with commercial CNTs, it was found that the electrochemical performance of the CNTs from the biomass was 2.7 times higher than that of commercial CNTs. As a new and unique way of synthesizing CNTs that has never been reported, it may provide unique characteristics to the CNTs.