Bio-Derived, Binderless, Hierarchically Porous Carbon Anodes for Li-ion Batteries

Abstract

Here we explore the electrochemical performance of pyrolyzed skins from the species A. bisporus, also known as the Portobello mushroom, as free-standing, binder-free, and current collector-free Li-ion battery anodes. At temperatures above 900 °C, the biomass-derived carbon nanoribbon-like architectures undergo unique processes to become hierarchically porous. During heat-treatment, the oxygen and heteroatom-rich organics and potassium compounds naturally present in the mushroom skins play a mutual role in creating inner void spaces throughout the resulting carbon nanoribbons, which is a process analogous to KOH-activation of carbon materials seen in literature. The pores formed in the pyrolytic carbon nanoribbons range in size from sub-nanometer to tens of nanometers, making the nanoribbons micro, meso, and macroporous. Detailed studies were conducted on the carbon nanoribbons using SEM and TEM to study morphology, as well as XRD and EDS to study composition. The self-supporting nanoribbon anodes demonstrate significant capacity increase as they undergo additional charge/discharge cycles. After a pyrolysis temperature of 1100 °C, the pristine anodes achieve over 260 mAh/g after 700 cycles and a Coulombic efficiency of 101.1%, without the use of harmful solvents or chemical activation agents.

Enhanced Lithium Storage in Hierarchically Porous Carbon Derived from Waste Tea Leaves

“…This capacity increase phenomenon has already been reported in previous studies involving rich hush-derived carbon23, peanut shell derived hard carbon28, and Portobello mushroom-derived porous carbon47. It can be primarily attributed to the hierarchically porous carbon structure resulting from acid treatment, suggesting that various unexposed micro- and mesopores are more accessible during repeated cycling.…”

“…using pyrolytic carbons derived from green tea biomass30. Both CV curves showed an irreversible cathodic peak between 0.5 and 0.6 V during the first reduction process, which occurred as a result of the decomposition of electrolyte and the formation of a solid electrolyte interface layer (SEI) on the carbon surface2547. In subsequent cycles, the HCl-TW-Car anode showed no irreversibility, but the TW-Car anode continuously showed irreversibility under 0.6 V owing to the formation of the SEI layer.…”

Bacterium, Fungus, and Virus Microorganisms for Energy Storage and Conversion

“…Apart from the microorganisms, there are some edible centimeter fungus species called mushrooms, which refer to the fungi that can form large sporocarps, including most basidiomycetes and few ascomycetes. The sporocarp is composed of the cap tissue (including epidermis, context, and mediotrastum), stalk tissue (including collarium and volva), and the basal cap skin tissue (CST) which can form rhizomorph . The common culture media of fungi can be divided into solid and fluid media.…”

“…Mushrooms, also known as Agaricus bisporus , are some of the most widely studied edible fungus species with high yield and high consumption. The growth of A. bisporus can be divided into mycelium stage and sporocarp stage . The sporocarp stage has three stages, including primordium stage, bud stage, and mature stage.…”

A New Method to Characterize the Porous Carbon Materials

“…Structured porous carbon was widely investigated in lithium-ion batteries [1,2], Super capacitor [3,4], fuel cell [5,6], energy storage and conversion devices [7,8], and adsorption materials [9,10] due to the excellent physical, electrical, mechanical and chemical properties.…”