Browsing by Author "Xu, Shichen"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Battery metal recycling by flash Joule heating
    (AAAS, 2023) Chen, Weiyin; Chen, Jinhang; Bets, Ksenia V.; Salvatierra, Rodrigo V.; Wyss, Kevin M.; Gao, Guanhui; Choi, Chi Hun; Deng, Bing; Wang, Xin; Li, John Tianci; Kittrell, Carter; La, Nghi; Eddy, Lucas; Scotland, Phelecia; Cheng, Yi; Xu, Shichen; Li, Bowen; Tomson, Mason B.; Han, Yimo; Yakobson, Boris I.; Tour, James M.; Welch Institute for Advanced Materials; NanoCarbon Center; Applied Physics Program; Smalley-Curl Institute
    The staggering accumulation of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and the growing scarcity of battery metal sources have triggered an urgent call for an effective recycling strategy. However, it is challenging to reclaim these metals with both high efficiency and low environmental footprint. We use here a pulsed dc flash Joule heating (FJH) strategy that heats the black mass, the combined anode and cathode, to >2100 kelvin within seconds, leading to ~1000-fold increase in subsequent leaching kinetics. There are high recovery yields of all the battery metals, regardless of their chemistries, using even diluted acids like 0.01 M HCl, thereby lessening the secondary waste stream. The ultrafast high temperature achieves thermal decomposition of the passivated solid electrolyte interphase and valence state reduction of the hard-to-dissolve metal compounds while mitigating diffusional loss of volatile metals. Life cycle analysis versus present recycling methods shows that FJH significantly reduces the environmental footprint of spent LIB processing while turning it into an economically attractive process.
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    Electrothermal mineralization of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances for soil remediation
    (Springer Nature, 2024) Cheng, Yi; Deng, Bing; Scotland, Phelecia; Eddy, Lucas; Hassan, Arman; Wang, Bo; Silva, Karla J.; Li, Bowen; Wyss, Kevin M.; Ucak-Astarlioglu, Mine G.; Chen, Jinhang; Liu, Qiming; Si, Tengda; Xu, Shichen; Gao, Xiaodong; JeBailey, Khalil; Jana, Debadrita; Torres, Mark Albert; Wong, Michael S.; Yakobson, Boris I.; Griggs, Christopher; McCary, Matthew A.; Zhao, Yufeng; Tour, James M.
    Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent and bioaccumulative pollutants that can easily accumulate in soil, posing a threat to environment and human health. Current PFAS degradation processes often suffer from low efficiency, high energy and water consumption, or lack of generality. Here, we develop a rapid electrothermal mineralization (REM) process to remediate PFAS-contaminated soil. With environmentally compatible biochar as the conductive additive, the soil temperature increases to >1000 °C within seconds by current pulse input, converting PFAS to calcium fluoride with inherent calcium compounds in soil. This process is applicable for remediating various PFAS contaminants in soil, with high removal efficiencies ( >99%) and mineralization ratios ( >90%). While retaining soil particle size, composition, water infiltration rate, and cation exchange capacity, REM facilitates an increase of exchangeable nutrient supply and arthropod survival in soil, rendering it superior to the time-consuming calcination approach that severely degrades soil properties. REM is scaled up to remediate soil at two kilograms per batch and promising for large-scale, on-site soil remediation. Life-cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis demonstrate REM as an environmentally friendly and economic process, with a significant reduction of energy consumption, greenhouse gas emission, water consumption, and operation cost, when compared to existing soil remediation practices.
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    High-temperature electrothermal remediation of multi-pollutants in soil
    (Springer Nature, 2023) Deng, Bing; Carter, Robert A.; Cheng, Yi; Liu, Yuan; Eddy, Lucas; Wyss, Kevin M.; Ucak-Astarlioglu, Mine G.; Luong, Duy Xuan; Gao, Xiaodong; JeBailey, Khalil; Kittrell, Carter; Xu, Shichen; Jana, Debadrita; Torres, Mark Albert; Braam, Janet; Tour, James M.; NanoCarbon Center and the Rice Advanced Materials Institute; Smalley-Curl Institute
    Soil contamination is an environmental issue due to increasing anthropogenic activities. Existing processes for soil remediation suffer from long treatment time and lack generality because of different sources, occurrences, and properties of pollutants. Here, we report a high-temperature electrothermal process for rapid, water-free remediation of multiple pollutants in soil. The temperature of contaminated soil with carbon additives ramps up to 1000 to 3000 °C as needed within seconds via pulsed direct current input, enabling the vaporization of heavy metals like Cd, Hg, Pb, Co, Ni, and Cu, and graphitization of persistent organic pollutants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The rapid treatment retains soil mineral constituents while increases infiltration rate and exchangeable nutrient supply, leading to soil fertilization and improved germination rates. We propose strategies for upscaling and field applications. Techno-economic analysis indicates the process holds the potential for being more energy-efficient and cost-effective compared to soil washing or thermal desorption.
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    Programmed multimaterial assembly by synergized 3D printing and freeform laser induction
    (Springer Nature, 2024) Zheng, Bujingda; Xie, Yunchao; Xu, Shichen; Meng, Andrew C.; Wang, Shaoyun; Wu, Yuchao; Yang, Shuhong; Wan, Caixia; Huang, Guoliang; Tour, James M.; Lin, Jian; Smalley-Curl Institute
    In nature, structural and functional materials often form programmed three-dimensional (3D) assembly to perform daily functions, inspiring researchers to engineer multifunctional 3D structures. Despite much progress, a general method to fabricate and assemble a broad range of materials into functional 3D objects remains limited. Herein, to bridge the gap, we demonstrate a freeform multimaterial assembly process (FMAP) by integrating 3D printing (fused filament fabrication (FFF), direct ink writing (DIW)) with freeform laser induction (FLI). 3D printing performs the 3D structural material assembly, while FLI fabricates the functional materials in predesigned 3D space by synergistic, programmed control. This paper showcases the versatility of FMAP in spatially fabricating various types of functional materials (metals, semiconductors) within 3D structures for applications in crossbar circuits for LED display, a strain sensor for multifunctional springs and haptic manipulators, a UV sensor, a 3D electromagnet as a magnetic encoder, capacitive sensors for human machine interface, and an integrated microfluidic reactor with a built-in Joule heater for nanomaterial synthesis. This success underscores the potential of FMAP to redefine 3D printing and FLI for programmed multimaterial assembly.