Activated Carbon from E-Waste Plastics as a Promising Anode for Sodium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

There is a pressing need for the introduction of highly efficient and cost-effective energy storage systems to meet worldwide burgeoning energy demand. Key to these systems is the development of sustainable, higher capacity, electrode materials. Carbonaceous materials have demonstrated the most success as negative electrode materials for alkali-ion batteries, and the development of novel methods to produce these materials more sustainably will enable the production of next-generation alkali-ion batteries with reduced environmental impact. This study demonstrates that activated carbon derived from end-of-life printer plastics can act as high capacity anode materials for sodium-ion batteries. These carbons exhibited superior rate capability and delivered capacities as high as 190 mAh/g at 3 mA/g after 25 cycles. They were able to retain up to 100% of their second discharge capacity after 100 cycles at 20 mA/g. In-depth ex situ analysis of the electrodes, using a combination of techniques such as solid state nuclear magnetic resonance and X-ray diffraction is also presented to shed light on the sodium storage mechanism, a topic still being vigorously investigated in the scientific community. This work provides an excellent example of repurposing waste for sustainable energy storage applications.