article · Cleaner Engineering and Technology
Aluminium foil waste contributes significantly to landfill accumulation, prompting interest in cleaner recycling methods that produce functional energy storage materials. Aluminium oxide nanoparticles were synthesised from discarded aluminium foil using co-precipitation at constant annealing room temperature followed by mechanical milling. Characterisation revealed an average yield of approximately 41 percent, predominantly producing alpha and gamma phases with average particle sizes of roughly 64 and 67 nanometres. When assembled into experimental aluminium-ion cells with graphite anodes, the synthesised nanoparticles demonstrated electrochemical performance nearing standard commercial benchmarks across most parameters. Testing also demonstrated that pairing a sulfuric acid electrolyte with a polyacrylate binder produced significantly higher cell potential, current, power densities, and polarization curves compared to a magnesium sulfate electrolyte and silicone binder system.
Accumulating aluminium waste presents substantial landfill challenges, and conventional disposal methods often generate secondary pollution. Developing cleaner chemical pathways to transform scrap foil into active battery components helps resolve disposal burdens while supplying materials for energy storage. Demonstrating that recovered nanoparticles can rival standard materials opens viable paths toward cleaner, circular battery material production.
This early-stage laboratory research could enable waste recyclers and battery manufacturers to repurpose scrap aluminium into cathode materials for aluminium-ion cells. The work is currently at an experimental, cell-assembly proof-of-concept stage. Transitioning to real-world use would require substantial further development to improve the average synthesis yield, test long-term cycling stability, and evaluate the manufacturing scalability of the chemical co-precipitation process.
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Aluminium waste accumulated in landfills is a solid waste in abundance. Various methods have been employed to alleviate the waste only to yield secondary pollution effects. This study seeks to provide an alternative greener recycling procedure that is beneficial to society in terms of health and economics through energy storage materials. The study aimed to synthesize and characterize aluminium oxide nanoparticles from waste aluminium foil and its potential applications in fabricating aluminium-ion cell, FAIC.1 Aluminium oxide nanoparticles were obtained by co-precipitation of waste aluminium foils at constant annealing room temperature followed by mechanical milling to nanoparticulate range. The particles were then characterized for particle size and phases (X-ray diffraction), functional groups and optical activity (infra-red and ultra-violet-visible spectroscopy respectively). Cell assembling of FAIC was done using a graphite anode while the cathode had a standard and the synthesized aluminium oxide nanoparticles. Sulfuric acid and magnesium sulfate electrolytes were used with two binders; polyacrylate and silicone adhesives. The average synthesis yield was 40.64 ± 19.69%. Most of the particles had a α-Al2O3 and γ-Al2O3 phase with an average size of 63.763 nm and 66.5144 nm for the two polymorphs respectively. There were several OH-groups coupled to Al–O bonds. The optimal absorption peak was λmax = 237 nm corresponding to a band gap of 5.25eV. The synthesized nanoparticles exhibited great electrochemical potential, nearing the standard one in most of the parameters. The FAIC potential, current, power densities and polarization curves from sulfuric acid electrolyte and polyacrylate binder were significantly higher to those of magnesium sulfate and silicone binder (P > 0.05).
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DOI: 10.1016/j.clet.2021.100108
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