Issue 1, 2017

A new approach for recycling waste rubber products in Li–S batteries

Abstract

Vulcanized rubber products contain polymer backbones crosslinked with sulfur to improve mechanical strength. Burning of waste rubber products emits toxic gases, and recycling of rubber by breaking the C–S bond with costly reagents and heat is also haunted by environmental concerns. The crosslinked polymers can be extracted chemically at room temperature and, by a simple solution-drop method, used to prepare a bifunctional cathode layer on the cathode current collector of a Li–S battery. The C–S bond of the crosslinking sulfur can be broken reversibly in a discharge/recharge cycle to provide a sulfur source, and the broken carbon bond can capture a lithium polysulfide soluble in a liquid organic electrolyte by forming a C–Li–S bond during discharge. During charge, the Li is extracted and the C–S bond is reformed. However, added sulfur powder is also needed in the cathode of a Li–S battery. The data also provide a low-cost way to recycle waste rubber electrochemically.

Graphical abstract: A new approach for recycling waste rubber products in Li–S batteries

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
22 ก.ย. 2559
Accepted
09 พ.ย. 2559
First published
10 พ.ย. 2559

Energy Environ. Sci., 2017,10, 86-90

A new approach for recycling waste rubber products in Li–S batteries

B. Yu, J. Jung, K. Park and J. B. Goodenough, Energy Environ. Sci., 2017, 10, 86 DOI: 10.1039/C6EE02770A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements