Potential New Energy Storage Solution – Cigarette Butts b4in.org/g6eY One of the most annoying parts of being around smokers is finding cigarette butts ground out everywhere. You see them littering the streets, on sidewalks, and in the grass. Finally, however, there may be an exciting new use for these annoying byproducts. A new study from Seoul National University, published in Nanotechnology, demonstrates that used cigarette butts can be made into a high performing material capable of being integrated into computers, handheld devices, electrical vehicles and wind turbines to store energy. The material has shown itself to be superior in performance when compared to commercially available carbon, graphene and carbon nanotubes. The researchers hope to ultimately coat the electrodes of supercapacitors, which are electrochemical components able to store enormous amounts of electrical energy. Because there are an estimated 5.6 trillion (approximately 766,571 metric tons) of used cigarette butts dumped into the environment every year, the team hopes their discovery will help to create a solution for the negative environmental impact caused by this byproduct of smoking. Professor Jongheop Yi, from Seoul National University, said, “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 to meeting the energy demands of society.” “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.” More b4in.org/g6eY
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 14:28:34 +0000
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