Si-based nanocomposite anodes from abundant waste biomass: a low-cost, sustainable approach to enhance stability of lithium-ion batteries
摘要
The sustainable utilization of the world’s abundant resources, such as biomass, without harming the environment is a very important approach and challenge currently. Interestingly, abundant biomass can be extracted to yield silicon (Si). To develop bioresource waste for higher value, this research focused on the transformation of four different biomass sources (dry mahogany leaf-based biomass (MB), dry palm leaf-based biomass (PB), dry teak leaves (TL), and napier grass (NG)) to Si-based nanocomposite anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). These nanocomposites can be prepared by calcination and then magnesiothermic reduction. All prepared products can be mainly indexed as crystalline Si. The microstructure investigation of all samples showed a different morphological structure. The products had a surface area of 300–710 m2 g–1. Furthermore, the pore sizes of all samples possessed pores with an average size between 9 and 12 nm. For the electrochemical measurement, it can be suggested that the Si-MB nanocomposite delivered the highest specific capacity of 588.03 mAh g–1 at a current density of 100 mA g–1 for long-term cycling of 300 cycles. This result indicated that Si-based materials derived from biomass had the potential to serve as sustainable anode materials in LIBs, due to their long-term cycling stability. Besides, these nanocomposites can be synthesized without the use of hydrofluoric acid (HF), enhancing the environmental friendliness of the process. Moreover, this study also promoted a circular economy by transforming biomass waste into high-value resources. For these reasons, it represented a key alternative in the development of next-generation batteries.