Cigarette stubs will be converted to energy storage material
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
It is known that smoking is dangerous to health, while both passive and active smoking are equally harmful. In addition, cigarettes pose a danger to the environment.
In the garbage that surrounds us, there is a large number of cigarette butts from cigarettes. Smokers throw them on the sidewalks, from car windows, from balconies, and a significant portion of cigarette butts are found in water bodies.
Experts estimated that every year more than five million cigarette butts from the cigarette get into the environment.
Scientists from South Korea have developed a way through which it will be possible not only to clean the environment of a ton of butts, but also to transform them into quite useful material.
Specialists suggested a method that will make of cigarette butts a special material for storing energy used in computers, portable devices, electric vehicles, wind turbines.
Recently, experts presented their technology and showed high performance in comparison with existing analogues (graphene, carbon, etc.).
Experts suggest that the material obtained during the conversion of cigarette butts can be used to cover the electrodes of supercapacitors, which allow storing a fairly large amount of energy, while simultaneously solving the environmental problem arising from the increase in the number of cigarette butts.
The co-author of the scientific project, Yongheop Yee, noted that the technology developed by them showed good results and the filters from cigarettes can be transformed into carbon-based high-tech material.
In a number of countries, strict measures have been introduced to avoid the entry into the environment of tons of toxic and non-decomposing cigarette butts. But the new technology of South Korean specialists to date is one of the best options for improving the environmental situation.
Today one of the most used materials for the production of components for super-capacitors is carbon, due to low cost, large surface area, high electrical conductivity and durability.
Specialists from all countries are developing various improvements for supercapacitors, in particular, the density of energy, power, cycle stability, and the issue of reducing production costs is being addressed.
The research project showed that the main component of cigarette filters - cellulose acetate - can be converted by thermal decomposition into a carbon-based material. The material obtained by this process has many fine pores and has high capacitive characteristics.
As the authors of the project note, high-performance supercapacitors require a material with a large surface area. As a result of thermal decomposition, a number of pores of different sizes are formed on the surface, which provides a high power density.
The scientists applied the material to the electrodes and checked in the three-electrode system its ability to absorb the ions of the electrolyte and release them, in other words, to be charged and discharged.
The study showed a good ability of the material to retain a large amount of energy, in contrast to carbon, graphene, and carbon nanotubes used today.
[