1. Upcycling drinking bottle waste to intercalated 2D-0D carbon architectures and its supercapacitor applications.
- Author
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Pei, Yixian, Liao, Yixin, Zhang, Jinge, Zhong, Haixu, Yang, Yu, Wen, Xiufang, Du, Weimin, and Wang, Shengnian
- Subjects
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HYDROTHERMAL carbonization , *POWER resources , *CARBON electrodes , *POLYETHYLENE terephthalate , *PLASTIC scrap , *PLASTIC scrap recycling - Abstract
Despite its many benefits to our modern life, plastic contributes a large volume of solid waste that increasingly threatens our environment and health. Through a hydrothermal depolymerization and carbonization process that involves nitric acid and ethanol, drinking bottles that are made of polyethylene terephthalate are successfully converted into carbon quantum dots (CDs) and thin carbon nanosheets simultaneously with the former intercalated between layers of the latter to form a unique ball-sheet architecture. When used as electrode material, the stacking carbon nanosheets in this plastic-derived, ball-sheet carbon (PBSC) structure create a conductive network to allow rapid transport of ions and electrons while the well-dispersed CDs offer a large surface area and numerous sites to host them. The supercapacitors made of these PBSC electrodes exhibit double-layer capacitor behaviors with a specific capacity reaching 237 F/g at a charge rate of 1 A/g and excellent cycling stability. Our efforts offer a new route to upcycle plastic waste as valuable energy storage materials, which may help boost its recycling and the sustainable deployment of various clean energy resources. We upcycled drinking bottles into supercapacitor electrode materials. With carbon quantum dots intercalated between layers of carbon nanosheets, this ball-sheet carbon architecture offers numerous sites to host ions and electrons and space and a conductive network for their rapid transport. Double-layer capacitor behaviors are exhibited with a specific capacity of 237 F/g at 1 A/g and excellent cycling stability. [Display omitted] • Unique carbon architecture with 0D carbon dots intercalated between 2D nanosheets. • One-step synthesis & assembly of CDs and 2D nanosheets to ball-sheet architectures. • Transform PET waste to valuable carbon dots and nanosheets simutaneously • New 2D-0D carbon electrodes with superior specific capacity and cycling stability. • New upcycling strategy promoting environmental sustainability and clean energy supplies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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