Scalable Upcycling of Industrial Waste Polytetrafluoroethylene Into Porous Carbon Nanosheets by Zeolite Particle Templates for Capacitive Energy Storage
Keyang Li, Menggang Li, Yunfeng Feng, Peng Zhang, Chenhui Zhou, Zhuangzhuang He, Yihong Liu, Mengda Hou, Jianning Gan, Rongpei Wang, Yilun Huang, Menghao Yang, Ming Zhao, Daming Zhuang, Qianming Gong, Shaojun GuoABSTRACT
Upcycling highly stable polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) waste into value‐added carbon materials is fundamentally hindered by its complete zero‐residue pyrolysis, which exclusively emits hazardous fluorocarbons rather than forming solid carbon frameworks. Herein, we present a scalable zeolite‐particle‐templated cocarbonization strategy that catalytically transforms industrial PTFE waste into hierarchical porous carbon nanosheets (PCNs) while fixing over 81% of the fluorine as recyclable NaF. Comprehensive mechanistic investigations reveal that the ZSM‐5 template electronically activates C─F bonds and lowers the defluorination barrier, driving a successive‐condensation structural evolution. The resulting PCN, featuring an ultrahigh specific surface area and hierarchical porosity, delivers exceptional dual‐mode energy storage performances. In supercapacitors, PCNs achieve a remarkable specific capacitance of 429.6 F g −1 and outstanding rate capabilities driven by reversible pseudocapacitance and ion coadsorption. Concurrently, in carbon‐based aqueous zinc‐ion batteries (CAZBs), the PCNs deliver a high specific capacity of 267.0 mAh g −1 with robust extreme‐temperature adaptability (−25°C). Validated by a continuous industrial‐scale piping and instrumentation design (PID), this strategy demonstrates high commercial viability with low energy storage costs, pioneering a waste‐to‐wealth strategy for advanced carbon materials for energy storage.