I-Corps: Translation potential of carbon dots for battery anode applications

The broader impact of this I-Corps project is the development of carbon-based electronic materials with graphite-like structure derived from consumer plastic. Graphite is listed as a critical material by the U.S. government as it plays a key role in various energy technologies. However, both the mining and synthetic production of graphite consume significant amounts of energy, and large-scale mining is confined to relatively few locations.

Synthetic graphite manufacturing is a major source of graphite used for energy applications. Parts of the synthesis occur at extremely high temperature (>2000 oC). Additionally, the raw material for synthetic graphite production is derived from a residue produced during crude oil distillation, which is also a complex and expensive process.

The new materials are promising for use as a composite together with silicon to improve the capacity of battery anodes in electric vehicle applications. The solution is also promising for use as a coating to improve the conductivity of electrodes in electronic devices.

This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with a first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of a technology to efficiently transform the consumer plastic, polypropylene, into carbon nanomaterials with graphitic structure, called carbon dots. The purified carbon dots are less than 5 nm in diameter and, through additional processing, can be assembled into larger crystallites (> 50 nm in size) as indicated from powder X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy.

The X-ray diffraction patterns indicate a graphite-like structure, which makes it a potential substitute for graphite in various industrial applications with a higher surface-to-volume ratio. In addition, this material has been shown to be electrically conductive with no metal included inside. Understanding the assembling behavior of the carbon dots may lead to a new approach to producing microscale graphite from consumer plastic.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.