Anyone who has eaten fresh crab legs or lobster tails can prove how difficult it is to penetrate their hard shells. However, the researchers did not throw it away, but instead upgraded and recycled this type of shell into porous, carbon rich, and versatile materials.
According to foreign media reports, the Omega Journal of the American Chemical Society reported that a team has used this "crab carbon" to make anode materials for sodium ion batteries, which is a strong competitor of lithium ion batteries.
In order to manufacture "crab carbon", researchers first heated the crab shell to over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, then added the carbon to a solution of tin sulfide (SnS2) or iron sulfide (FeS2), and then dried it to form an anode. The porous and fibrous structure of crab carbon provides a large surface area, which can enhance the conductivity of the material and its ability to effectively transport ions.
When the anode was placed in a model battery for testing, the research team found that both composite materials had high capacity and could sustain at least 200 charge discharge cycles. Researchers say that this study can provide a way to upgrade and recycle other waste materials, which will help develop more sustainable battery technologies.
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