Upcycling Polyethylene Waste Into Advanced Carbon Materials Used for Energy Storage Applications

Conference · Sun Jul 13 04:00:00 EDT 2025

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2571610· OSTI ID:2571610

Gao, Yuan ^[1]; Pham, Viet Hung ^[1]; Huynh, Ngoc ^[1]; Kim, Ki-Joong ^[2]; Wang, Congjun ^[2]; Matranga, Christopher ^[2]

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1. NETL Site Support Contractor, National Energy Technology Laboratory
2. NETL

Upcycling plastic into advanced carbons, such as graphite and graphene, offers attractive options to manage waste streams by converting the plastic into carbon electrode materials for energy storage devices. However, polyethylene (PE) is notoriously difficult to upcycle because it decomposes into light gases at approximately 350-400 °C which prevents processing it at higher temperatures to convert it into advanced carbons. This work addresses this challenge by oxidatively functionalizing PE between 300-330 C which stabilizes it for higher temperature processing into graphite & graphene. In addition, the graphite & graphene are tested as lithium-ion battery or supercapacitor electrodes where their electrochemical performances outperform commercial materials.

• Research Organization: National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM); USDOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), Office of Resource Sustainability (FE-30)
• OSTI ID: 2571610
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

graphene
graphite
plastic upcycling