Hierarchically porous carbon from waste coffee grounds for high-performance Li–Se batteries

Lithium-selenium (Li–Se) batteries represent a promising energy storage system due to the relatively high electronic conductivity and high volumetric energy density of Se as a cathode. The design of porous carbon with tunable structure and low cost is a key to enabling Se cathodes for high-performan...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Electrochimica acta 2019-12, Vol.325, p.134931, Article 134931
Main Authors: Zhao, Peter, Shiraz, Mohammad Hossein Aboonasr, Zhu, Hongzheng, Liu, Yihao, Tao, Li, Liu, Jian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activated carbon
Carbon
Carbonate electrolyte
Cathodes
Coffee
Diffusion rate
Electron transfer
Energy storage
Flux density
Ion diffusion
Lithium
Lithium-selenium battery
Low cost
Selenium
Storage batteries
Waste coffee ground
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Lithium-selenium (Li–Se) batteries represent a promising energy storage system due to the relatively high electronic conductivity and high volumetric energy density of Se as a cathode. The design of porous carbon with tunable structure and low cost is a key to enabling Se cathodes for high-performance Li–Se batteries. In this study, hierarchically microporous activated carbon (AC) was fabricated from waste coffee grounds through a carbonization and KOH-activation process. Despite the simple synthesis process, the optimized AC (AC-700) had a high surface area of 1355 m2 g−1 and a large microspore volume of 0.52 cm³ g−1. The Se/AC-700 cathode showed a reversible capacity of 655 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.1C in Li–Se batteries based on a carbonate electrolyte. Moreover, the Se/AC-700 cathode demonstrated excellent cyclic performance over 400 cycles without appreciable capacity decay. The main reason for the good battery performance was attributed to fast electron transfer and Li-ion diffusion in Se confined in the microporous carbon of AC-700. It is expected that this work will shed light on the development of low-cost and stable Se cathodes for high-energy Li–Se batteries. [Display omitted] •Microporous carbon is synthesized from waste coffee grounds (WCG).•WCG-derived carbon is used as a Se cathode host in Li–Se batteries.•Se/carbon cathode exhibits high a reversible capacity and long cycling life.•Micropores in carbon are key to enabling fast e− transfer and Li+ diffusion in Se.
ISSN:0013-4686
1873-3859
DOI:10.1016/j.electacta.2019.134931