From Plastic Waste to Power Source: Polyethylene-Derived Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries
- 1Institute of Batteries (IoB), Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan
Abstract
Polyethylene, the largest component of plastic waste, decomposes on heating almost entirely to volatiles rather than to carbon. Here, one post-consumer low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film and one high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottle were converted into disordered carbons by sulfonation-assisted carbonization. Sulfonation raised the carbon residue at 900 °C from 1.21 to 32.63 wt.% for LDPE and from 0.06 to 8.82 wt.% for HDPE. The two carbons are indistinguishable by X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (interlayer spacing 0.365–0.366 nm, crystallite thickness ≈1.4 nm), have the same Raman disorder ratio (1.01–1.02) and retain little sulfur (≤0.51 at.%), but differ in specific surface area (53.7 and 32.5 m2 g−1). As lithium-ion anodes, the LDPE- and HDPE-derived carbons deliver 338 and 302 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles at 100 mA g−1, with capacity still rising, and 155 and 130 mA h g−1 at 2 A g−1. The larger first-cycle loss and higher capacity of the LDPE-derived carbon correlate with its larger surface area, consistent with the precursor acting through its response to the sulfonation pretreatment rather than through carbonization. These results are a proof of concept; extension to other and mixed waste streams requires further study.
Related
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- Delamination of Multilayer Plastic Films to Recover Polyethylene with Favorable Mechanical Properties
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- Ion Transport Dynamics in Poly(ethylene oxide) and Poly(pentyl malonate) Electrolytes for Lithium Batteries
BibTeX
@article{kurtibay2026from,
title = {{From Plastic Waste to Power Source: Polyethylene-Derived Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries}},
author = {Kuanysh Kurtibay and Yryszhan Tashenova and Aisha Zhanaikhan and Kuralay Korzhynbayeva and Aliya Mukanova and Arailym Nurpeissova},
journal = {Nanomaterials},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/nano16201310},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/16/20/1310},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - From Plastic Waste to Power Source: Polyethylene-Derived Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries
AU - Kuanysh Kurtibay
AU - Yryszhan Tashenova
AU - Aisha Zhanaikhan
AU - Kuralay Korzhynbayeva
AU - Aliya Mukanova
AU - Arailym Nurpeissova
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
JO - Nanomaterials
DO - 10.3390/nano16201310
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/16/20/1310
AB - Polyethylene, the largest component of plastic waste, decomposes on heating almost entirely to volatiles rather than to carbon. Here, one post-consumer low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film and one high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottle were converted into disordered carbons by sulfonation-assisted carbonization. Sulfonation raised the carbon residue at 900 °C from 1.21 to 32.63 wt.% for LDPE and from 0.06 to 8.82 wt.% for HDPE. The two carbons are indistinguishable by X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (interlayer spacing 0.365–0.366 nm, crystallite thickness ≈1.4 nm), have the same Raman disorder ratio (1.01–1.02) and retain little sulfur (≤0.51 at.%), but differ in specific surface area (53.7 and 32.5 m2 g−1). As lithium-ion anodes, the LDPE- and HDPE-derived carbons deliver 338 and 302 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles at 100 mA g−1, with capacity still rising, and 155 and 130 mA h g−1 at 2 A g−1. The larger first-cycle loss and higher capacity of the LDPE-derived carbon correlate with its larger surface area, consistent with the precursor acting through its response to the sulfonation pretreatment rather than through carbonization. These results are a proof of concept; extension to other and mixed waste streams requires further study.
SN - 2079-4991
ER -