Carbon Nanotube (CNTs) Production from Waste Cooking Oil As Anode Material for Li-Ion Batteries

Carbon nanotube (CNTs) have received growing interest as anode material on Li-ion batteries due to high electrical conductivity, large surface area and strong structure. In this study, CNTs were synthesized from waste cooking oil (WCO) by chemical decomposition process with various reaction temperatures (800, 900 and 1000 °C) and using ferrocene as catalysts. The characteristics of CNTs were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and gas adsorption analysis. Results show that the trend of pore size decreased, whereas the specific surface area of CNT increased with increasing reaction temperature. The electrochemical performance of CNTs samples as anode material for lithiumion batteries were investigated at C/4 rate. The results found that the highest specific discharge capacity was CNTs at reaction temperature 900 °C (474.34 mAh/g for first cycle and 213.75 mAh/g for 30 cycles) due to pore size and the specific surface area were suitable for Li-ion storage properties.