Carbon Nanostructures Derived from Polymeric Wastes for Supercapacitors

Abstract

The large-scale generation of wastes is a challenge to researchers worldwide, mainly in transforming industrial wastes into technological products with commercial value. It is possible to transform this challenge into an opportunity by converting waste into value-added products, such as carbon-based materials for supercapacitor application. Factors such as increasing demand for energy storage devices have gained considerable attention that is expected to drive the growth of the market, which can open new opportunities to use domestic and industrial wastes for making carbon-based materials for supercapacitor application. The transformation of polymeric wastes into high-value materials is a big incentive for polymeric recycling, and the reuse even saves energy compared with manufacturing virgin materials. This chapter provides an overview of the several synthetic methods to convert polymeric waste into carbon nanomaterials for supercapacitors. Different kinds of carbon materials, including nanofibers, nanotubes, graphene, and mesoporous carbon, could be derived from polymeric waste, transforming trash into components for energy storage devices. In the final place, we present conclusions and the future aspects of polymeric recycling technology to convert polymeric waste into carbon materials for supercapacitors.