5G Technology World

  • 5G Technology and Engineering
  • FAQs
  • Apps
  • Devices
  • IoT
  • RF
  • Radar
  • Wireless Design
  • Learn
    • 5G Videos
    • Ebooks
    • EE Training Days
    • FAQs
    • Learning Center
    • Tech Toolboxes
    • Webinars/Digital Events
  • Handbooks
    • 2024
    • 2023
    • 2022
    • 2021
  • Resources
    • Design Guide Library
    • EE World Digital Issues
    • Engineering Diversity & Inclusion
    • Engineering Training Days
    • LEAP Awards
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Packing Peanuts Get Converted into Battery Components

By Staff Author | March 23, 2015

New processing technology converts packing peanuts to battery components.

This schematic depicts a process for converting waste packing peanuts into high-performance carbon electrodes for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that outperform conventional graphite electrodes, representing an environmentally friendly approach to reuse the waste. (Purdue University image/Vinodkumar Etacheri). Credit: (Purdue University image/Vinodkumar Etacheri)West LaFayetter, IN – Researchers have shown how to convert waste packing peanuts into high-performance carbon electrodes for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that outperform conventional graphite electrodes, representing an environmentally friendly approach to reuse the waste.

Batteries have two electrodes, called an anode and a cathode. The anodes in most of today’s lithium-ion batteries are made of graphite. Lithium ions are contained in a liquid called an electrolyte, and these ions are stored in the anode during recharging. Now, researchers at Purdue University have shown how to manufacture carbon-nanoparticle and microsheet anodes from polystyrene and starch-based packing peanuts, respectively.

“We were getting a lot of packing peanuts while setting up our new lab,” recalled postdoctoral research associate Vinodkumar Etacheri. “Professor Vilas Pol suggested a pathway to do something useful with these peanuts.”

This simple suggestion led to a potential new eco-friendly application for the packaging waste. Research findings indicate that the new anodes can charge faster and deliver higher “specific capacity” compared to commercially available graphite anodes, Pol said.

The new findings are being presented during the 249th American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition in Denver on March 22-26. The work was performed by Etacheri, Pol and undergraduate chemical engineering student Chulgi Nathan Hong.

“Although packing peanuts are used worldwide as a perfect solution for shipping, they are notoriously difficult to break down, and only about 10 percent are recycled,” Pol said. “Due to their low density, huge containers are required for transportation and shipment to a recycler, which is expensive and does not provide much profit on investment.”

Consequently, packing peanuts often end up in landfills, where they remain intact for decades. Although the starch-based versions are more environmentally friendly than the polystyrene peanuts, they do contain chemicals and detergents that can contaminate soil and aquatic ecosystems, posing a threat to marine animals, he said.

The new method “is a very simple, straightforward approach,” Pol said. “Typically, the peanuts are heated between 500 and 900 degrees Celsius in a furnace under inert atmosphere in the presence or absence of a transition metal salt catalyst.”

The resulting material is then processed into the anodes.

“The process is inexpensive, environmentally benign and potentially practical for large-scale manufacturing,” Etacheri said. “Microscopic and spectroscopic analyses proved the microstructures and morphologies responsible for superior electrochemical performances are preserved after many charge-discharge cycles.”

Commercial anode particles are about 10 times thicker than the new anodes and have higher electrical resistance, which increase charging time.

“In our case, if we are lithiating this material during the charging of a battery it has to travel only 1 micrometer distance, so you can charge and discharge a battery faster than your commercially available material,” Pol said.

Because the sheets are thin and porous, they allow better contact with the liquid electrolyte in batteries.

“These electrodes exhibited notably higher lithium-ion storage performance compared to the commercially available graphite anodes,” he said.

Packing-peanut-derived carbon anodes demonstrated a maximum specific capacity of 420 mAh/g (milliamp hours per gram), which is higher than the theoretical capacity of graphite (372 mAh/g), Etacheri said.

“Long-term electrochemical performances of these carbon electrodes are very stable,” he said. “We cycled it 300 times without significant capacity loss. These carbonaceous electrodes are also promising for rechargeable sodium-ion batteries. Future work will include steps to potentially improve performance by further activation to increase the surface area and pore size to improve the electrochemical performance.”

For more information visit http://www.purdue.edu.


Filed Under: RF

 

Next Article

← Previous Article
Next Article →

Related Articles Read More >

Butler Matrix
Butler Matrix drives Wi-Fi and other phased-array antennas
Long-wire dipole antennas: still viable after more than a century
RemCom Wireless InSite 4.0
Software simulates RF conditions from the Earth to the Moon
FAQ on the Butler matrix for beamforming: part 2

Featured Contributions

  • Overcome Open RAN test and certification challenges
  • Wireless engineers need AI to build networks
  • Why AI chips need PCIe 7.0 IP interconnects
  • circuit board timing How timing and synchronization improve 5G spectrum efficiency
  • Wi-Fi 7 and 5G for FWA need testing
More Featured Contributions

EE TECH TOOLBOX

“ee
Tech Toolbox: 5G Technology
This Tech Toolbox covers the basics of 5G technology plus a story about how engineers designed and built a prototype DSL router mostly from old cellphone parts. Download this first 5G/wired/wireless communications Tech Toolbox to learn more!

EE LEARNING CENTER

EE Learning Center
“5g
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, tools and strategies for EE professionals.

Engineering Training Days

engineering
“bills
5G Technology World
  • Enews Signup
  • EE World Online
  • DesignFast
  • EDABoard Forums
  • Electro-Tech-Online Forums
  • Microcontroller Tips
  • Analogic Tips
  • Connector Tips
  • Engineer’s Garage
  • EV Engineering
  • Power Electronic Tips
  • Sensor Tips
  • Test and Measurement Tips
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy

Search 5G Technology World