Abstract
Despite its many benefits to our modern life, plastic contributes a large volume of solid waste that increasingly threatens our environment and health. Through a hydrothermal depolymerization and carbonization process that involves nitric acid and ethanol, drinking bottles that are made of polyethylene terephthalate are successfully converted into carbon quantum dots (CDs) and thin carbon nanosheets simultaneously with the former intercalated between layers of the latter to form a unique ball-sheet architecture. When used as electrode material, the stacking carbon nanosheets in this plastic-derived, ball-sheet carbon (PBSC) structure create a conductive network to allow rapid transport of ions and electrons while the well-dispersed CDs offer a large surface area and numerous sites to host them. The supercapacitors made of these PBSC electrodes exhibit double-layer capacitor behaviors with a specific capacity reaching 237 F/g at a charge rate of 1 A/g and excellent cycling stability. Our efforts offer a new route to upcycle plastic waste as valuable energy storage materials, which may help boost its recycling and the sustainable deployment of various clean energy resources.
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