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Last August, the seasonal harmful algal blooms (HABs) in Lake Erie grew so extreme that they poisoned the water system in Toledo, Ohio, leaving nearly half a million residents without drinking water. But a few researchers at the time collected some of the toxic HABs, and have now shown that, by heating them at temperatures of 700-1000 °C in argon gas, the HABs can be converted into a material called "hard carbon" that can be used as high-capacity, low-cost electrodes for sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries.
The researchers, led by environmental engineer Dr. Da Deng at Wayne State University in Detroit, have published a paper on using HABs for electrochemical energy storage in a recent issue ofEnvironmental Science & Technology.
"Harmful algal blooms, caused by cyanobacteria (or so called 'blue-green algae'), severely threaten humans, livestock, and wildlife, leading to illness and sometimes even death," Deng told Phys.org. "The Toledo water crisis in 2014 caused by HABs in Lake Erie is a vivid example of their powerful and destructive impact. The existing technologies to mitigate HABs are considered a 'passive' technology and have certain limitations. It would significantly and broadly impact our society and environment if alternative technologies could be developed to convert the HABs into functional high-value products."
As Deng explained, one such high-value product may be electrodes for Na-ion batteries, which have the potential to replace the dominantly used lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries.
"We demonstrated the conversion of HABs, freshly collected from Lake Erie near Toledo, into high-performance electrodes for Na-ion batteries," he said. "We call it a 'trash-to-treasure' approach. This technology could be promising for mitigating HABs to overcome their environmental threats and providing 'green' electrodes for reversible sodium storage in Na-ion batteries."
Read more here. (TechXplore)
The researchers, led by environmental engineer Dr. Da Deng at Wayne State University in Detroit, have published a paper on using HABs for electrochemical energy storage in a recent issue ofEnvironmental Science & Technology.
"Harmful algal blooms, caused by cyanobacteria (or so called 'blue-green algae'), severely threaten humans, livestock, and wildlife, leading to illness and sometimes even death," Deng told Phys.org. "The Toledo water crisis in 2014 caused by HABs in Lake Erie is a vivid example of their powerful and destructive impact. The existing technologies to mitigate HABs are considered a 'passive' technology and have certain limitations. It would significantly and broadly impact our society and environment if alternative technologies could be developed to convert the HABs into functional high-value products."
As Deng explained, one such high-value product may be electrodes for Na-ion batteries, which have the potential to replace the dominantly used lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries.
"We demonstrated the conversion of HABs, freshly collected from Lake Erie near Toledo, into high-performance electrodes for Na-ion batteries," he said. "We call it a 'trash-to-treasure' approach. This technology could be promising for mitigating HABs to overcome their environmental threats and providing 'green' electrodes for reversible sodium storage in Na-ion batteries."
Read more here. (TechXplore)
