Recycled carbon fibers as viable anode materials for sodium-ion capacitors

Abstract

In the context of a circular economy, recycling advanced composite materials has become a major challenge. Carbon fibers (CF), primarily sourced from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and pitch, offer a great potential for end-of-life valorization. Despite improvements in recycling processes targeted at preserving the fibers' original mechanical properties, most recovered fibers remain unsuitable for reuse due to diminished tensile strength, reduced fiber length, and possible structural degradation. These limitations emphasize the need to identify new applications for recycled carbon fibers (rCF). This study proposes a change of paradigm, aiming to evaluate the suitability of recycled PAN-based (rCF-PAN) and pitch-based (rCF-Pitch) carbon fibers - recovered via vapothermolysis (vapo), pyrolysis (pyro), or solvolysis (solvo) - as electrode materials for sodium-ion capacitors (SIC). The physical and structural properties of these recycled fibers were characterized and compared with those of conventional hard carbon (HC). Fibers produced by vapothermolysis and pyrolysis, exhibiting favorable structural and surface characteristics for sodium-ion storage, were selected for further analysis. These fibers were milled to increase their specific surface area. Electrochemical performance was assessed through cyclic voltammetry to identify redox processes, followed by galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements at various current rates to determine practical capacity and rate capability. Cycling behavior and energy density were benchmarked against hard carbon electrodes. The results show that recycled carbon fibers are viable materials for sodium-ion storage and outperform hard carbon at high rates, indicating strong potential for power-oriented applications.

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Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{mazoyer2026recycled,
  title = {{Recycled carbon fibers as viable anode materials for sodium-ion capacitors}},
  author = {Hugo Mazoyer and Marcelo Andrade and Zineb El Kacemi and Camille Douard and Jean-Yves Mevellec and Julio Cesar de Luca and Yannick Amosse and Olivier Crosnier and Paulo Luís and Jon Ajuria and María Arnaiz and Thierry Brousse},
  journal = {Electrochimica Acta},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.electacta.2026.149406},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05705058v1},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Recycled carbon fibers as viable anode materials for sodium-ion capacitors
AU  - Hugo Mazoyer
AU  - Marcelo Andrade
AU  - Zineb El Kacemi
AU  - Camille Douard
AU  - Jean-Yves Mevellec
AU  - Julio Cesar de Luca
AU  - Yannick Amosse
AU  - Olivier Crosnier
AU  - Paulo Luís
AU  - Jon Ajuria
AU  - María Arnaiz
AU  - Thierry Brousse
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
JO  - Electrochimica Acta
DO  - 10.1016/j.electacta.2026.149406
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05705058v1
AB  - In the context of a circular economy, recycling advanced composite materials has become a major challenge. Carbon fibers (CF), primarily sourced from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and pitch, offer a great potential for end-of-life valorization. Despite improvements in recycling processes targeted at preserving the fibers' original mechanical properties, most recovered fibers remain unsuitable for reuse due to diminished tensile strength, reduced fiber length, and possible structural degradation. These limitations emphasize the need to identify new applications for recycled carbon fibers (rCF). This study proposes a change of paradigm, aiming to evaluate the suitability of recycled PAN-based (rCF-PAN) and pitch-based (rCF-Pitch) carbon fibers - recovered via vapothermolysis (vapo), pyrolysis (pyro), or solvolysis (solvo) - as electrode materials for sodium-ion capacitors (SIC). The physical and structural properties of these recycled fibers were characterized and compared with those of conventional hard carbon (HC). Fibers produced by vapothermolysis and pyrolysis, exhibiting favorable structural and surface characteristics for sodium-ion storage, were selected for further analysis. These fibers were milled to increase their specific surface area. Electrochemical performance was assessed through cyclic voltammetry to identify redox processes, followed by galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements at various current rates to determine practical capacity and rate capability. Cycling behavior and energy density were benchmarked against hard carbon electrodes. The results show that recycled carbon fibers are viable materials for sodium-ion storage and outperform hard carbon at high rates, indicating strong potential for power-oriented applications.
SN  - 0013-4686
ER  -

Abstract

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