Ut-battelle, Inc.

The University of Tennessee Research Foundation

Yunchao Li

Mariappan Parans Paranthaman

Amit Kumar Naskar

Zachary David Hood

Younan Xia

Kokouvi M Akato

Shiba Prasad Adhikari

Xuan Yang

Marcus W Wright

Abdessadek Lachgar

The invention provides a method of making a electrocatalyst from waste tires. The method comprises the steps of providing rubber pieces; optionally contacting the rubber pieces with a sulfonation bath to produce sulfonated rubber; pyrolyzing the rubber to produce tire-derived carbon composite comprising carbon black, wherein the pyrolyzing comprises heating to at least 200&#xb0; C.-2400&#xb0; C.; activating the tire-derived carbon composite by contacting the tire-derived carbon composite with an alkali anion compound to provide activated tire-derived carbon supports; and loading the activated carbon-based supports with platinum cubes. In another embodiment, the tire-derived carbon composite is activated by annealing in a carbon dioxide atmosphere.

Carbon supports for oxygen reduction catalysts

A carbon-metal oxide composite material comprising: (i) carbon-carbon composite particles in which an amorphous carbon black core is bonded to crystalline graphitic carbon shells; and (ii) a metal oxide material bonded with said carbon-carbon composite particles, wherein said metal oxide material is included in an amount of at least about 10 wt. % by weight of said carbon-carbon composite particles and metal oxide material. Alkali-ion batteries containing the above-described composite as anode are also described. Methods for producing the above-described composite are also described. The method can include, for example, subjecting pulverized rubber tire waste to a sulfonation process and pyrolyzing the sulfonated rubber to produce the carbon-carbon composite particles, as described above, followed by admixing and compounding a metal oxide material with the carbon-carbon composite particles. The method may alternatively employ a metal oxide precursor, which can be admixed with the sulfonated rubber and converted to metal oxide during pyrolysis.

Carbon-metal oxide composite materials and their use in anodes of lithium and sodium ion batteries

A method of making solid acid catalysts includes the step of sulfonating waste tire pieces in a first sulfonation step. The sulfonated waste tire pieces are pyrolyzed to produce carbon composite pieces having a pore size less than 10 nm. The carbon composite pieces are then ground to produce carbon composite powders having a size less than 50 &#x3bc;m. The carbon composite particles are sulfonated in a second sulfonation step to produce sulfonated solid acid catalysts. A method of making biofuels and solid acid catalysts are also disclosed.

Surface treated carbon catalysts produced from waste tires for fatty acids to biofuel conversion

Growing community of inventors

Knoxville, TN, United States of America

Yunchao Li