Vermisoglou Eleni C, Giannouri Maria, Todorova Nadia, Giannakopoulou Tatiana, Lekakou Constantina, Trapalis Christos
Institute of Nanoscience & Nanotechnology, 'Demokritos', Ag. Paraskevi, Attikis, Greece.
Division of Mechanical, Medical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
Waste Manag Res. 2016 Apr;34(4):337-44. doi: 10.1177/0734242X15625373. Epub 2016 Feb 9.
A simple, facile and low-cost method for recycling of supercapacitor materials is proposed. This process aims to recover some fundamental components of a used supercapacitor, namely the electrolyte salt tetraethyl ammonium tetrafluoroborate (TEABF4) dissolved in an aprotic organic solvent such as acetonitrile (ACN), the carbonaceous material (activated charcoal, carbon nanotubes) purified, the current collector (aluminium foil) and the separator (paper) for further utilization. The method includes mechanical shredding of the supercapacitor in order to reduce its size, and separation of aluminium foil and paper from the carbonaceous resources containing TEABF4 by sieving. The extraction of TEABF4 from the carbonaceous material was based on its solubility in water and subsequent separation through filtering and distillation. A cyclic voltammetry curve of the recycled carbonaceous material revealed supercapacitor behaviour allowing a potential reutilization. Furthermore, as BF4(-) stemming from TEABF4 can be slowly hydrolysed in an aqueous environment, thus releasing F(-) anions, which are hazardous, we went on to their gradual trapping with calcium acetate and conversion to non-hazardous CaF2.
提出了一种简单、便捷且低成本的超级电容器材料回收方法。该过程旨在回收废旧超级电容器的一些基本组件，即溶解在乙腈（ACN）等非质子有机溶剂中的电解质盐四氟硼酸四乙铵（TEABF4）、纯化后的碳质材料（活性炭、碳纳米管）、集流体（铝箔）和隔膜（纸）以供进一步利用。该方法包括对超级电容器进行机械粉碎以减小其尺寸，以及通过筛分从含TEABF4的碳质资源中分离出铝箔和纸。从碳质材料中提取TEABF4是基于其在水中的溶解度，随后通过过滤和蒸馏进行分离。回收的碳质材料的循环伏安曲线显示出超级电容器行为，允许其潜在地再利用。此外，由于源自TEABF4的BF4(-)在水环境中会缓慢水解，从而释放出有害的F(-)阴离子，我们接着用醋酸钙逐步捕获它们并转化为无害的CaF2。
