Can domestic wastes-evolved Fe2N@Carbon hybrids serve as competitive anodes for sustainable Li/Na storage applications?

Evolution of domestic wastes into competitive battery materials at less expense is a rational strategy of killing two birds with one stone, and never better for grid-scale energy-storage utilizations wherein achieving great energy density is less crucial than environmental friendliness and cost. To checkout this concept, we herein select Fe2N, a conductive conversion-type anode for Li-/Na-ion batteries (LIBs/SIBs), as a paradigm study. Rusty/plastic wastes-evolved anodes with a proper tap density of 1.74 g cm(-3) are composed of numerous nanoparticles where each Fe2N unit is evenly configured in robust carbon sheath. Such electrodes demonstrate impressive specific capacities under varied areal mass loading ratios of 3 similar to 15 mg cm(2), outstanding rate capabilities and cyclic stability. To judge their promise in practical usage, we successively choose economical LiFePO4 and phase-stable Na3V2(PO4)(3) as pairing cathodes to build full-cell LIBs/SIBs. This wastes-to-battery protocol may pave a way to advance practical techniques for sustainable usage beyond.

Automated summary

Transforming domestic wastes into competitive battery materials is a rational strategy for achieving environmental friendliness and cost efficiency in grid-scale energy storage. The study demonstrates that using Fe2N as a conductive conversion anode in waste-evolved batteries shows impressive performance and stability.