Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research· 2026Q1
Upcycling Spent Tea Leaves into a Multifunctional Separator for High-Performance and Eco-Friendly Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries
- 0citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Spent tea leaves (STLs) are repurposed into a multifunctional separator for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs), significantly improving performance by suppressing zinc dendrite growth and parasitic reactions.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Spent tea leaves (STLs) were used as functional fillers to create cellulose nanofiber (CNF)/STL separators via simple wet cogrinding and vacuum filtration.
- Tea polyphenols and nitrogen/oxygen groups in STLs regulate Zn2+ flux and stabilize the electrode/electrolyte interface, promoting uniform Zn plating and suppressing dendrites.
- Zn||Zn cells with CNFs/STL separators cycled stably for over 2900 hours at 1 mA cm–2/1 mAh cm–2.
- Full cells using these separators retained 73.5% of initial capacity after 2000 cycles at 5 A g–1.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) suffer severe limitations from uncontrollable Zn dendrite growth and parasitic side reactions. Separator functionalization is a promising strategy for addressing these challenges. However, modifying cellulose-based separators often involves complex, costly procedures. Herein, we repurpose low-cost spent tea leaves (STLs) as functional fillers to fabricate cellulose nanofiber (CNF)/STL) separators via simple wet cogrinding and vacuum filtration. Tea polyphenols in STL interact with Zn2+, while nitrogen/oxygen-containing groups provide zincophilic sites that, with the interconnected porous CNF network, collectively regulate Zn2+ flux and stabilize the electrode/electrolyte interface. This synergy promotes uniform Zn plating/stripping and suppresses the dendrite formation. Electrochemical evaluations demonstrate that Zn||Zn cells equipped with the CNFs/STL separator cycle stably for over 2900 h at 1 mA cm–2/1 mAh cm–2. Moreover, full cells retain 73.5% of initial capacity after 2000 cycles at 5 A g–1, proving this green, cost-effective, and scalable biomass separators for high-performance AZIBs.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2026 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering