Reddygunta Kiran Kumar Reddy, Callander Andrew, Šiller Lidija, Faulds Karen, Berlouis Leonard, Ivaturi Aruna
Smart Materials Research and Device Technology (SMaRDT) Group, Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, University of Strathclyde Thomas Graham Building Glasgow G1 1XL UK
Centre for Molecular Nanometrology, Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, University of Strathclyde, Technology Innovation Centre 99 George Street Glasgow G1 1RD UK.
RSC Adv. 2024 Apr 19;14(18):12781-12795. doi: 10.1039/d2ra06809e. eCollection 2024 Apr 16.
Upcycling Covid19 plastic waste into valuable carbonaceous materials for energy storage applications is a sustainable and green approach to minimize the burden of waste plastic on the environment. Herein, we developed a facile single step activation technique for producing activated carbon consisting of spherical flower like carbon nanosheets and amorphous porous flakes from used PET [poly(ethylene terephthalate)] face shields for supercapacitor applications. The as-obtained activated carbon exhibited a high specific surface area of 1571 m g and pore volume of 1.64 cm g. The specific capacitance of these carbon nanostructure-coated stainless steel electrodes reached 228.2 F g at 1 A g current density with excellent charge transport features and good rate capability in 1 M NaSO aqueous electrolyte. We explored the slot-die coating technique for large-area coatings of flexible high-performance activated carbon electrodes with special emphasis on optimizing binder concentration. Significant improvement in electrochemical performance was achieved for the electrodes with 15 wt% Nafion concentration. The flexible supercapacitors fabricated using these electrodes showed high energy and power density of 21.8 W h kg and 20 600 W kg respectively, and retained 96.2% of the initial capacitance after 10 000 cycles at 2 A g current density. The present study provides a promising sustainable approach for upcycling PET plastic waste for large area printable supercapacitors.
将新冠疫情期间产生的塑料废物升级转化为用于储能应用的有价值碳质材料，是一种可持续的绿色方法，可最大限度地减轻废塑料对环境的负担。在此，我们开发了一种简便的单步活化技术，用于从废旧聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（PET）面罩制备由球形花状碳纳米片和无定形多孔薄片组成的活性炭，用于超级电容器应用。所获得的活性炭具有1571 m²/g的高比表面积和1.64 cm³/g的孔体积。这些碳纳米结构涂覆的不锈钢电极在1 M Na₂SO₄水性电解质中，在1 A/g电流密度下的比电容达到228.2 F/g，具有优异的电荷传输特性和良好的倍率性能。我们探索了狭缝式模头涂布技术用于大面积涂覆柔性高性能活性炭电极，并特别强调优化粘合剂浓度。对于Nafion浓度为15 wt%的电极，电化学性能有显著改善。使用这些电极制造的柔性超级电容器分别显示出21.8 W h/kg和20600 W/kg的高能量和功率密度，并且在2 A/g电流密度下经过10000次循环后保留了初始电容的96.2%。本研究为将PET塑料废物升级转化为大面积可印刷超级电容器提供了一种有前景的可持续方法。
