Electrode materials derived from plastic wastes and other industrial wastes for supercapacitors

Abstract

The present review not only devotes on the environmental consequences of plastic bag wastes and other industrial wastes observable in the landfills, in the oceans or elsewhere but also gives a new insight idea on conversion of them into worth material, carbon, for the best electrochemical supercapacitor. Transformation of plastic wastes into high-value materials is the incentive for plastic recycling, end-of-life handling case for plastic bag wastes in practice quite limited. The plastic recycling waste for reuse saves energy compared with manufacturing virgin materials. Herein, we identified several synthetic methods to convert plastic waste and other industrial wastes into carbon material for supercapacitor. Different kinds of carbon materials, including nanofiber, nanotube, graphene, mesoporous carbon, etc., have been derived from plastic waste, and thus give a superior potential for transforming trash into a “gold capacitor”. Finally, conclusions and future trends of high-voltage supercapacitors were made as well as the easy and mass production of high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors. Our work offers a promising sustainable approach to handle plastic bags, waste, and other industrial wastes and provides a new avenue in supercapacitor applications and other areas.