The Recovery of the Waste Cigarette Butts for N-Doped Carbon Anode in Lithium Ion Battery

Abstract

As one of the common life garbages, about 4.5 trillion waste cigarette butts are produced and randomly discarded every year due to the addiction to the nicotine and the need of the social intercourse. Such a treatment would result in the waste of the resources and the environmental pollution if they weren't reasonably recycled in time. Herein, the waste cigarette butts were recycled in form of N-doped carbon powders with high economic value-added via one-step facile carbonization at 800 • C for 2 h in the inert N 2 atmosphere. The waste-cigarette-butts-derived black carbon powders were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), N 2 adsorption/desorption, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Furthermore, the corresponding electrochemical performances as the anode in lithium ion battery (LIB) were also investigated by galvanostatic charge/discharge, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and alternating current (AC) impedance. The results suggested that the recycled N-doped waste cigarette butts carbon (WCBC) powders consisted of major carbon and minor residual N-containing and O-containing functional groups, and the corresponding specific surface area was about 1,285 m 2 •g −1. Furthermore, the reversible specific discharge capacity was about 528 mAh•g −1 for 100 cycles at 25 mA•g −1 and about 151 mAh•g −1 even at 2,000 mA•g −1 for 2,500 cycles. Additionally, full cell performances were also satisfactory, indicating high feasibility. N-doping effect (such as additional active sites and higher electronic conductivity) and the residual O-containing functional groups may be responsible for the satisfactory electrochemical performances, which offered good inspiration and strategy to develop the green energy and circular economy.

Review on the application of green and environmentally benign biowaste and natural substances in the synthesis of lithium‐ion batteries

“…This biomass was carbonized under a nitrogen atmosphere at 800 C, and used for the fabrication of anodes with good performance. 94 The density at the Fermi level is enhanced by nitrogen atoms behaving as electron donors. Moreover, nitrogen and oxygen atoms within the carbon matrix induce the mechanism of pseudo-capacitive Listorage and the formation of defects, profitable for electrochemical activities.…”

“…Cigarette butt waste is another potential source of biomass containing a high amount of cellulose. This biomass was carbonized under a nitrogen atmosphere at 800°C, and used for the fabrication of anodes with good performance 94 . The density at the Fermi level is enhanced by nitrogen atoms behaving as electron donors.…”

Toward Next‐Generation Carbon‐Based Materials Derived from Waste and Biomass for High‐Performance Energy Applications

“…Apart from biomass, industrial wastes have also been utilized as electrodes for LiBs. For example, Yu et al [ 127 ] carbonized waste cigarette butts at 800 °C in nitrogen atmosphere, as shown in Figure 13 a. The presence of nitrogen‐containing compounds such as nicotine and hydrogen cyanide in the chemical structure of cigarettes makes it a promising waste resource for the fabrication of N‐doped carbon electrodes for energy storage.…”

“…The cycling performances of N-doped carbon anode at b) 25 mA g À1, c) 1000 mA g À1 , and d) 2000 mA g À1 . Reproduced with permission [127]. Copyright 2018, Frontiers.…”

Anaerobic Digestion of Cigarette Butts: Microbial Community Analysis and Energy Production Estimation

“…Accordingly, methods for recycling tobacco waste have been proposed. Reports have also been published regarding recycling CBs into high value materials such as cellulose pulp [2] and N-doped carbon powder [3].…”