TechXplore writes about a new battery innovation using face masks.
- Since the beginning of COVID-19 researchers estimate that 130 billion face masks have been used each month worldwide.
- Researchers from the United States, Russia, and Mexico have found a way to produce inexpensive batteries from masks that are often unable to be recycled.
- In the future, researchers will look for ways to use these batteries in electric vehicles, solar power stations, and other applications.
“To create a battery of the supercapacitor type, the following algorithm is used: first the masks are disinfected with ultrasound, then dipped in ‘ink’ made of graphene, which saturates the mask. Then the material is pressed under pressure and heated to 140 degrees Celsius (conventional supercapacitor batteries require very high temperatures for pyrolysis-carbonation, up to 1000–1300 degrees Celsius, while the new technology reduces energy consumption by a factor of 10). A separator (also made of mask material) with insulating properties is then placed between the two electrodes made of the new material.”
Read the full article here.
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