1. Highly efficient conversion of waste plastic into thin carbon nanosheets for superior capacitive energy storage.
- Author
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Liu, Xiaoguang, Ma, Changde, Wen, Yanliang, Chen, Xuecheng, Zhao, Xi, Tang, Tao, Holze, Rudolf, and Mijowska, Ewa
- Subjects
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PLASTIC scrap , *WASTE products as fuel , *ENERGY storage , *CARBONIZATION , *ACTIVATED carbon , *PLASTIC scrap recycling , *POLLUTION - Abstract
The wide application of carbon nanosheets (CNS) is still restricted by low production. Meanwhile, the accumulation of waste plastic generates serious environmental pollution. Nowadays, the conversion of waste plastic into two-dimensional CNS is regarded as a promising way to address these issues due to the high carbon content of waste plastic. However, this conversion process is still impeded by low-efficient catalysts so far. Herein, the highly efficient carbonization of waste polypropylene (PP) into CNS is achieved using a combined catalyst of ferrocene and sulfur. The carbonization process in sealed space ensures an ultrahigh carbon yield (62.8%) and a thin thickness (4–4.5 nm) of as-prepared CNS, even though little catalyst is used. After activation, the activated carbon nanosheets (ACNS) show a well-defined hierarchical porous structure with a large specific surface area (3200 m2 g−1) and a big pore volume (3.71 cm3 g−1). The ACNS based electrode delivers a high specific capacitance of 349 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1. The fabricated symmetric supercapacitor manifests a high energy density of 23 Wh kg−1 at 225 W kg−1. These findings provide a reference for the efficient conversion of waste plastic into energy storage materials. Image 1 • Waste PP is converted into thin carbon nanosheets (4–4.5 nm) using combined catalyst. • Vapor-phase reaction endows the prepared CNS with a high carbon yield (62.8%). • Activated carbon nanosheets show a large specific surface area and a big pore volume. • A high specific capacitance with superior cycling stability is proved. • This work reports an efficient conversion of waste plastic into electrode material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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