Waste to energy application of sweet lime derived carbon with δ-MnO2 for zinc ion battery

Abstract

Waste to energy conversion is the future of energy storage devices. With increasing population, waste incarnation needs more attention in order to limit exploitation of fossil fuels and to improve waste management. Zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) are safer and greener compared to other energy storage devices. Manganese dioxide (δ-MnO2) is a potential candidate as cathode due its wide interlayer spacing which makes it suitable for intercalation/deintercalation of Zn2+ ions. Waste from sweet lime fruit is an excellent precursor for the preparation of sweet lime derived activated carbon (SLDC). The δ-MnO2 supported on sweet lime derived activated carbon (MO-SLDC) is investigated as cathode for ZIBs. This cathode demonstrates attractive discharge capacity of 248.05 mAh/g at 300 mA/g and retention of 97% over 500 cycles at 500 mA/g and excellent coulombic efficiency of 99.34%. The innovative methods in waste management creates bridge between energy recovery from garbage that would be used more in the future which will benefit the environment and economy.