ResearchSEA
Scientists in South Korea have developed a new way to store
energy that also offers a solution to a growing environmental problem.
Reporting their findings in the IOP Publishing journal Nanotechnology, the
research team successfully converted used cigarette butts into a high
performing material that could be integrated into computers, handheld devices,
electric vehicles and wind turbines to store energy.
According to the study, this material outperforms commercially available carbon, graphene and carbon nanotubes. It may someday be used to coat the electrodes of supercapacitors: electrochemical components that can store extremely large amounts of electrical energy.
"Our study has shown that used cigarette filters can be
transformed into a high performing carbon-based material using a simple one
step process, which simultaneously offers a green solution for meeting the
energy demands of society," says co-author Professor Jongheop Yi of Seoul
National University.
"Numerous countries are developing strict regulations to
avoid the trillions of toxic and non-biodegradable used cigarette filters that
are disposed of into the environment each year. Our method is just one way of
achieving this," adds Professor Yi.
Carbon is the most common material found in supercapacitors due
to its low cost, high surface area, high electrical conductivity and long term
stability. Scientists around the world are working to improve the
characteristics of supercapacitors -- such as their energy density, power
density and cycle stability -- while trying to reduce production costs.
In their study, Professor Yi and his colleagues demonstrated
that the cellulose acetate fibres found in most cigarette filters could be
transformed into a carbon-based material using a simple, one-step burning
technique called pyrolysis. The resulting material contained a number of tiny
pores, increasing its performance as a supercapacitive material.
"A high performing supercapacitor material should have a
large surface area, which can be achieved by incorporating a large number of
small pores into the material," says Professor Yi. "A combination of
different pore sizes ensures that the material has high power densities, which
is an essential property in a supercapacitor."
Once fabricated, the carbon-based material was attached to an
electrode and tested in a three-electrode system to see how well the material
could adsorb electrolyte ions (charge) and then release them (discharge). The
material stored more electrical energy than commercially available carbon,
graphene and other materials.
In addition to their energy storing potential, cigarette butts
may one day be used to control dengue, one of the world's most important
mosquito-borne viral diseases.
Noting that cigarette butts are "impregnated with thousands
of chemical compounds, many of which are highly toxic and none of which has [a]
history of resistance in mosquitoes," a research team in Malaysia, Japan
and Thailand examined their potential for controlling mosquitoes that harbour
the dengue virus.
Reporting its findings in the journal Acta Tropica,
the team found that female mosquitoes actually prefer laying eggs in an
environment that contains cigarette butts over a butt-free environment. What's
more, the researchers observed that exposure to cigarette-butt waste has
"detrimental effects on the [fertility] and longevity of [mosquito]
offspring."