The reuse and recycling of products, leading to the utilization of wastes as key resources in a closed loop, is a great opportunity for the market in terms of added value and reduced environmental impact. In this context, producing carbonaceous anode materials starting from raw materials derived from food waste appears to be a possible approach to enhance the overall sustainability of the energy storage value chain, including Li-ion (LIBs) and Na-ion batteries (NIBs). In this framework, we show the behavior of anodes for LIBs and NIBs prepared with coffee ground-derived hard carbon as active material, combined with green binders such as Na-carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), alginate (Alg), or polyacrylic acid (PAA). In order to evaluate the effect of the various binders on the charge/discharge performance, structural and electrochemical investigations are carried out. The electrochemical characterization reveals that the alginate-based anode, used for NIBs, delivers much enhanced charge/discharge performance and capacity retention. On the other hand, the use of the CMC-based electrode as LIBs anode delivers the best performance in terms of discharge capacity, while the PAA-based electrode shows enhanced cycling stability. As a result, the utilization of anode materials derived from an abundant food waste, in synergy with the use of green binders and formulations, appears to be a viable opportunity for the development of efficient and sustainable Li-ion and Na-ion batteries.
Conversion‐enabled transition metal oxides are mostly characterized by environmental benignity, low cost, and high theoretical capacities, which make them suitable as candidate anode materials for Li‐ion batteries. To ensure high efficiency and stability, the use of novel and tailored morphologies is recommended. Among the other methods, the use of natural extracts as templates is one of the possible strategies to accomplish this task. In this work, Fe2O3 nanoparticles are synthesized by using vanillin as a soft templating agent, and fully characterized on a morphological, structural and electrochemical level. Poly(acrylic acid) binder and ethanol for electrode preparation ensure a fully environmentally benign process from synthesis to electrode testing. The cells deliver capacity values up to 700 mAh g−1 under prolonged galvanostatic cycling at 500 mA g−1, as well as excellent rate capability and high efficiency.
The effects of a biomass-derived hard carbon matrix and
a sustainable
cross-linked binder are investigated as electrode components for a
silicon-based anode in lithium-ion half-cells, in order to reduce
the capacity fade due to volume expansion and shrinkage upon cycling.
Ex situ Raman spectroscopy and impedance spectroscopy are used to
deeply investigate the structural and interfacial properties of the
material within a single cycle and upon cycling. An effective buffering
of the volume changes of the composite electrode is evidenced, even
at a high Si content up to 30% in the formulation, resulting in the
retention of structural and interfacial integrity. As a result, a
high capacity performance and a very good rate capability are displayed
even at high current densities, with a stable cycling behavior and
low polarization effects.
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