The utilization of wasted gelatin as an effective binder for a flexible anode membrane

Abstract

Nowadays, the bendable lithium-ion battery has been an important power source for current smart electrical devices. This requires an effectively free-standing flexible electrode membrane that conveys high electrochemical performance, while capable of great flexibility. One of thekeycomponents to promote bendable fabrication is the functionalized binders that should be compatible with the electrode materials and strongly hold the cell structure. Recently, the rapid growth of the pharmaceutical andhealthcareindustries has left tons of gelatin waste. Regarding itsmulti-carboxy and amino functional groups, it can be expected to serve as a promising binding agent for the electrode material. Currently, TiO2has been widely applied as the potential anode material providing high stability for lithium-ion battery. Hence, this work is aimed to fabricate the free-standing flexible anode membranes for lithium-ion batteries by using TiO2nanosheets as the high specific surface area active material in conjunction with the gelatin based-binder. The TiO2nanosheets were prepared viaahydrothermal process and then composited with carbon nanotubes to increase their conductivity. Meanwhile, the waste gelatin was modified to become a polymerizable substrate for being a functional binder holding the flexible membrane. Material characterization results revealed the successful formation of the anatase TiO2nanosheets and the functionalized gelation-derived binder. The electrochemical performance of the proposed composite anode membrane showed a superior specific capacity over the sameTiO2-basedcomposite anode butemployingthe typical Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF). For instance, the average specific capacities after running for 100 cycles are approximately 149 and 97 mAhg−1for the anode membrane using gelatin-based and PVDF binder, respectively. Usingagelatin-based binder dose not onlyenhancethe electrochemical performance of the electrode membrane but also reduces chemical pollution and waste to the environment.