The fast-expanding electric vehicle market demands eco-friendly, high-performance, and low-cost energy storage systems. Lithium-sulfur battery with higher theoretical specific capacity and lower cost is regarded as a promising successor to lithium-ion battery. However, lithium-sulfur battery's polysulfide shuttling and lithium degradation have hindered its practical applications. In this study, cellulose fibers (CFs) were extracted from recycled paper hardboards by a simple alkaline treatment and then coated onto polypropylene separators by vacuum filtration.
PET is a ubiquitous material because of its robust properties. Today, less than 30% of PET bottles and few carpets are recycled in the United States, leading to the majority of PET being landfilled. The low PET reclamation rate is due to the fact that PET bottle recycling today is mechanical, resulting in a devalued product. Here, reclaimed PET (rPET) bottles are converted to fiberglass-reinforced plastics (FRPs), which sell for more than twice that of rPET. When monomers derivable from biomass are incorporated, rPET-FRPs with superior properties are achieved.
Environmental concerns arising from the over-dredging of sand have led to restrictions on its extraction across India, with direct economic impacts on concrete construction. A suitable environmentally friendly alternative to sand must be found to match the huge demand from the concrete construction industry. At the same time, waste plastic is rarely recycled in India, with as much as 40% left in landfill. The dumping of such materials which degrade at extremely low rates meaning they persist in the environment is a long-term environmental concern.
