Shellfish biowaste-derived carbon architectures as renewably sourced cathode materials for Lithium–Sulfur batteries

With the rapidly increasing demand for sustainable battery systems comes the need for environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and scalable material production. The reutilisation of biomass waste as precursors for carbonaceous materials shows promise in tackling some of these issues, especially when considered as sulfur hosts for lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. In this work, amorphous, porous carbon particles are produced through the facile carbonisation of glycogen derived from the industrial wastewater stream of the mussel cooking process. The influence of carbonisation time on the structural and molecular properties of the carbon particles is investigated using gas absorption analysis, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The application of these shellfish waste glycogen-derived carbons as sulfur host materials for Li–S batteries is detailed for the first time, including galvanostatic cycling and cyclic voltammetry. Specific charge values obtained in this study are greater than many reported values for carbons prepared from other biomass sources including rice husks and peanut shells. This work highlights the possibility to derive low-cost, sustainable sulfur host materials with promising electrochemical performance from shellfish materials which are currently considered to be waste products. • The conversion of biowaste into porous, electrically conductive carbons. • Glycogen derived carbons were investigated as a sulfur host for Li–S batteries. • C/S composites demonstrated capacities of ∼500 mAh g −1 after 500 cycles at C/5. • Specific capacities >700 mAh g −1 were observed when cycled at C/10.