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In this study, microporous activated carbon was produced from jellyfish-based biomass to capture carbon dioxide (CO2), toward addressing one of the biggest modern problems. The surface functional groups and porosity of activated carbon derived from jellyfish were investigated according to the activation conditions. It was confirmed that the jellyfish-based porous carbon prepared by NaOH activation comprised many micropores that facilitated CO2 adsorption under the influence of Na and P present in the microstructure of the jellyfish. In addition, the JFBC-based activated carbon had surface functional groups such as nitrogen, calcium, and magnesium, which facilitated CO2. The jellyfish-based activated carbon shows very excellent CO2 adsorption capacity (9.52 mmol/g and 5.18 mmol/g at 273 K and 298 K, respectively) compared to activated carbon prepared from porous carbon-based adsorbents for CO2 capture. This performance is attributed to the microstructure and various heteroatoms of the jellyfish biochar. Therefore, this study may provide insight into new biomass with competitive adsorption power and without requiring complicated manufacturing steps.

In this study, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were modified by thermal fluorination to improve dispersibility between MWCNTs and Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) and were used as additives to compensate for the disadvantages of LTO anode materials with low electronic conductivity. The degree of fluorination of the MWCNTs was controlled by modifying the reaction time at constant fluorination temperature; the clear structure and surface functional group changes in the MWCNTs due to the degree of fluorination were determined. In addition, the homogeneous dispersion in the LTO was improved due to the strong electronegativity of fluorine. The F-MWCNT conductive additive was shown to exhibit an excellent electrochemical performance as an anode for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). In particular, the optimized LTO with added fluorinated MWCNTs not only exhibited a high specific capacity of 104.8 mAh g−1 at 15.0 C but also maintained a capacity of ~116.8 mAh g−1 at a high rate of 10.0 C, showing a capacity almost 1.4 times higher than that of LTO with the addition of pristine MWCNTs and an improvement in the electrical conductivity. These results can be ascribed to the fact that the semi-ionic C–F bond of the fluorinated MWCNTs reacts with the Li metal during the charge/discharge process to form LiF, and the fluorinated MWCNTs are converted into MWCNTs to increase the conductivity due to the bridge effect of the conductive additive, carbon black, with LTO.