They’ve been used as a rubber additive, a carbon-capture medium and a bioplastic ingredient. Now, discarded eggshells may have yet another use. Scientists have determined that they could be utilized in an eco-friendly and inexpensive form of energy storage.
An international team of researchers started with regular chicken eggshells, which they washed, dried and crushed into a fine powder. That powder consisted both of the calcium carbonate outer shell, along with the protein-rich fiber membrane found inside.
The material was then used as an electrode against a metallic lithium anode, within a non-aqueous electrolyte. When tested, the resulting battery cell was found to maintain a capacity retention of 92 percent, over the course of more than 1,000 charge/discharge cycles (capacity retention is defined as “a measure of the ability of a battery to retain stored energy during an extended open-circuit rest period”).
This energy-storage capability came thanks mainly to the calcium carbonate, which allowed the crushed egg shells to store lithium. It is now hoped that the material could be incorporated into a low-cost lithium-ion capacitor.
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