New battery technology involving microwaves may provide an avenue for renewable energy conversion and storage.
Purdue University researchers created a technique to turn waste polyethylene terephthalate, one of the most recyclable polymers, into components of batteries.
They use an ultrafast microwave irradiation process to turn PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, flakes into disodium terephthalate, and use that as battery anode material.
The Purdue team tried the approach with both lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery cells. They worked with researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology and Tufts University. The battery technology is presented in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.
The researchers said that while lithium-ion technology is currently dominating both the portable electronics and electric vehicles market, sodium-ion battery research also has gained significant attention due to its low cost and appealing electrochemical performance in grid applications.
The applicability of the microwave technique on organic reactions has gained attention in recent times due to its advantage of the rapid reaction process.
The researchers have accomplished the complete conversion of PET to disodium terephthalate within 120 seconds, in a typical household microwave setup.
The materials used in the Purdue technology are low-cost, sustainable and recyclable.
News Source: Eurekalert
