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Received: January 26, 2021; Revised: January 27, 2021; Accepted: January 27, 2021
Abstract: Through a simple filtration process, followed by carbonization within a reductive environment, coffee waste grounds can be transformed into a non-porous hard carbon for use in multiple contexts. This resulting coffee-waste carbon has been evaluated as an eco-friendly and cost-effective replacement for conventional graphite. When compared with different types of carbon, our study found that the coffee-waste carbon fell into the category of hard carbon, as verified from the galvanostatic charge/discharge profiles. The coffee-waste carbon showed a superior rate capability when compared to that of graphite, while compromising smaller capacity at low C rates. During electrochemical reactions, it was also found that the coffee-waste carbon is well exposed to electrolytes, and its disordered characteristic is advantageous for ionic transport which leads to the low tortuosity of Li ions. Finally, the high irreversible capacity (low initial Coulombic efficiency) of the coffee-waste carbon, which if also often observed in amorphous carbon, can be adequately resolved through a solution-based prelithiation process, thereby proving that the coffee-waste carbon material is quite suitable for commercial use as an anode material for quickly-chargeable electrodes.