Reactivated Cathode Material from Waste Alkaline Batteries for Supercapacitor Electrodes: Interplay Study Between...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Billions of tons of waste alkaline batteries (WABs) pose environmental and health risks annually.
• Sustainable recycling of WABs aligns with circular economy principles, addressing waste management and energy storage demands.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate pyrometallurgical reactivation of WAB cathode materials at various temperatures.
• To produce high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors from recycled WABs.

Main Methods:

• Pyrometallurgical treatment of WAB cathode materials at 100, 300, 600, and 1000 °C.
• Characterization of material structure, surface area, and pore volume.
• Electrochemical testing of supercapacitor performance, including capacitance, retention, energy density, and power density.

Main Results:

• Cathode materials treated at 600°C exhibited a porous structure (78.07 m² g⁻¹ surface area, 0.983 cm³ g⁻¹ pore volume).
• Achieved specific capacitance of 1177.16 F g⁻¹ at 3mA cm⁻² in 1M KOH.
• Demonstrated ≈98% capacitance retention over 10,000 cycles.
• Supercapacitors showed energy density of 18.85 Wh kg⁻¹ and power density of 224.01 W kg⁻¹.

Conclusions:

• Pyrometallurgical reactivation at 600°C effectively produces advanced electrode materials from WABs.
• These materials offer a sustainable solution for waste management and energy storage.
• The study highlights the potential for circular economy integration in battery recycling.