Scientists have come up with yet another way to upcycle plastic bags, this time into nanotubes that can be used to make batteries. According to Discover magazine, however, it’s a pricey process.
It involves an expensive catalyst in cobalt acetate, which is not easily recovered, to convert the high or low-density polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE) into carbon nanotubes. But if the nanotubes are then used to make lithium-ion or lithium-air batteries, that might overcome this problem, since these batteries are already recycled at the end of their use to recover cobalt.
Click here for more on how to make a nanotube. Or watch this video from Stanford.
Tags: Batteries, Nanotubes, plastic bags
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