Bujdos David, Kuzel Zachary, Wood Adam
Department of Engineering, Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, PA 15650, USA.
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
R Soc Open Sci. 2025 Feb 19;12(2):240953. doi: 10.1098/rsos.240953. eCollection 2025 Feb.
Pyrolyzed carbon electrodes (PCEs) can provide sustainable alternatives in electric devices, but it is difficult to control their surface geometries during their semi-destructive fabrication procedure. Impressive contributions have been made to the field of PCE fabrication in terms of the nanoscale, functionalization, and separation applications; however, further progress towards an emphasis on a sustainable life cycle is the next step forward. Here, we propose two new methodologies for creating sustainable PCEs: stamping, where a user-designed, 3D printed electrode precursor (EP) imparts a shape on an organic material, and reconstitution, where the same EP acts as a mould as a mixture of agitated organic material and water dries to leave behind a rigid shape. Both methods allow for the reuse of the EP and the upcycling of biologically derived waste products as a pyrolytic input, and they do not require chemical modification. A comparison of the two methodologies is discussed as surface features of PCEs scale by a factor of 0.78 during the reconstitution process and by a factor of 0.68 during the stamping process. These PCEs maintain defined structures on the micro-scale and demonstrate previously unachievable resolution to the naked eye prior to these two novel pathways.
热解碳电极（PCEs）可为电子设备提供可持续的替代方案，但在其半破坏性制造过程中难以控制其表面几何形状。在纳米尺度、功能化和分离应用方面，PCE制造领域已经取得了令人瞩目的进展；然而，下一步的发展方向是更加注重可持续的生命周期。在此，我们提出了两种制造可持续PCEs的新方法：冲压法，即用户设计的3D打印电极前驱体（EP）在有机材料上赋予形状；重构法，即相同的EP在搅拌的有机材料和水的混合物干燥后形成刚性形状时充当模具。这两种方法都允许重复使用EP，并将生物衍生的废品升级循环用作热解输入，且无需化学改性。文中讨论了这两种方法的比较，因为在重构过程中PCEs的表面特征按0.78的系数缩放，在冲压过程中按0.68的系数缩放。这些PCEs在微观尺度上保持了确定的结构，并在这两种新方法出现之前展现出了肉眼前所未有的分辨率。
