Abstract:

Pyrolysis used to recycle End-of-life (EOL) mining tires generates a by-product called recovered carbon black (rCB), a valuable material with applications in paints, adsorbents, and batteries. However, rCB obtained from the pyrolysis of mining tires typically exhibits a low surface area (<100m²/g), thus requiring additional treatments to enhance its functionality. In this study, rCB obtained from EOL mining tires was activated using CO₂ and KOH treatments. The effects of activation temperature, activation time, and KOH:rCB ratio on the structure of resulting activated carbon (AC) were systematically investigated. A maximum BET surface areas (S_BET) of 994m²/g and 803m²/g were achieved for KOH-AC and CO₂-AC, respectively. Li-ion half-cells were fabricated with both ACs added to commercial lithium titanate (LTO) anodes. Industry standard cells with Super-P carbon had a discharge capacity of 123 mAh/g, while the new LTO anodes achieved discharge capacities of 163 and 164 mAh/g for CO₂-AC and KOH-AC, respectively. This improvement was attributed to the higher surface area of ACs, which also enhanced the ionic conductivity of electrodes. Furthermore, the irreversible capacity loss after the first discharge cycle was <10%. This study demonstrates the successful activation and effective use of mining tire-derived rCB as a conductive additive in LTO-based electrochemical systems.

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Dr. Somi Doja