Cigarette Butts the Basis of New Energy Storage Solution

A South Korean research group has converted used cigarette butts into a material that shows promise as the coating for supercapacitor electrodes. The new material outperformed commercially available carbon, graphene, and carbon nanotubes.

Commenting on the findings in a press release, co-author Professor Jongheop Yi of Seoul National University said, “Our study has shown that used cigarette filters can be transformed into a high performing carbon-based material using a simple one step process, which simultaneously offers a green solution for meeting the energy demands of society.”

Today, carbon is generally used in supercapacitors because it is low-cost while also exhibiting important characteristics such as high surface area, high electrical conductivity and long-term stability. The South Korean researchers were looking for a material that had high surface area, and one way to increase surface area is to create surface pores. By using pyrolysis, the researchers were able to transform the cellulose acetate fibers from cigarette filters into a carbon-based material. The resulting material contained many small pores, making it a strong candidate.

The researchers' work is published in the journal Nanotechnology here. To learn more, you can also read the press release here.