Electrochemical Application of Activated Carbon Derived from End-of-Life Tyres: A Technological Review
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsEnd-of-life (EOL) tyres can be efficiently transformed into AC, allowing for the extraction of approximately 30-60 % black carbon through the thermochemical decomposition via tyre pyrolysis. Numerous studies have been ongoing to investigate the potential of end-of-life (EOL) tyres in generating activated carbon (TDAC) and their efficacy in fulfilling two critical roles: absorption and energy storage. However, only few reviews on this aspect were found and the most recent development of electrochemical applications of TDAC is till not reviewed. Herein Zerin et al. reviewed the electrochemical properties of TDAC and t discussed the application of TDAC in a wide variety of energy storage devices, including lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries, potassium-ion batteries, and supercapacitors. The authors summarized that both activation processes can produce AC with a surface area ranging from 400 to 900 m²/g and the surface morphology of TDAC influenced the electrochemical behaviours of the synthesized electrodes. The review manuscript is of wide interest and of good significance as well as high impact. I highly appreciate the development in the utilization of end-of life tyres. The manuscript could make a great progress on efficient utilization of waste plastics and tires in energy field. The manuscript could be accepted for publication assuming that the following points are well addressed and included in a revised version.
1. In the Abstract, “The abstracts of n=197 papers were critically analysed for this review. Finally, n=11 full-length articles were selected through the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis) bibliographic search method that discussed the application of TDAC in a wide variety of energy storage devices,” is not clear. It is unnecessary to mention the number of papers for being analyzed to obtain the conclusions. Only citing the necessary papers is adequate. Please re-write this part of the manuscript for clarity.
2. In the first two sentences of Section 1, the authors stated that Activated carbon (AC) typically originated from non-renewable sources like wood, coal, and synthetic polymers, incurring high costs and environmental repercussions. To address this, researchers have explored affordable alternatives by conducting experiments with materials like nutshells, plastics, tires, paper, and solid waste. The two sentences should be consistent and one-to-one correspondence. The first sentence describes AC from those like wood, coal and synthetic polymers, and the second sentence should give the experimental examples with materials like nutshells, fly coal ash and waste plastics and tires. (here, wood«nutshell, coal«fly coal ash, and synthetic polymers « waste plastics and tires). In addition, the necessary typical references should be cited here for easy understanding. For instances, the exploration experiments with materials like nutshell [see: Solovtsova, O.V.; Men’shchikov, I.E.; Shkolin, A.V.; Grinchenko, A.E.; Khozina, E.V.; Fomkin, A.A. Experimental Study and Thermodynamic Analysis of Carbon Dioxide Adsorption onto Activated Carbons Prepared from Biowaste Raw Materials. Gases 2023, 3, 112-135. https://doi.org/10.3390/gases3030008 or see: Kumar, A.; Jena, H.M. Adsorption of Cr(VI) from aqueous solution by prepared high surface area activated carbon from Fox nutshell by chemical activation with H3PO4. J. Environ. Chem. Eng. 2017, 5, 2032-2041. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2017.03.035], fly coal ash [see: Zhang, Y.-N.; Yu, Y.-X. Adsorptive removal of Cr3+, Cu2+, and Ni2+ ions by magnetic Fe3O4@alkali-treated coal fly ash. Desalination and Water Treatment 2018, 123, 277-287. https://doi.org/10.5004/dwt.2018.22778] and waste plastics and tires [see: Refs. [1] and [2] of the manuscript] have been done by the researchers. Please make the statements more reasonable, complete, consistent and clear by above one-to-one correspondences and related experiments.
3. In the Conclusion section, the authors should give some proposes and prospect of usage of waste tyres like the proposed modifications of the experiments as well as some modifications of synthesized TDAC for improved electrochemical performance as electrodes for metal-ion batteries as well as supercapacitors. The future research trends should be also predicted in electrochemical energy storage and conversion.
4. The format of the authors’ names in the references in the Reference List does not match that of the journal. For instances, the authors in Ref. [1] should be typed as “Jahirul, M. I.; Hossain, F. M.; Rasul, M.G.; Chowdhury, A. A.”. Please revised the format of the authors’ names in all references.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageThe quality of English language is fine.
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI find that the Review entitled: "Electrochemical Application of Activated Carbon Derived from End-of-Life Tyres: A Technological Review" is a very interesting.
In this Review were presented how tire waste can be effectively managed by converting it into char through the pyrolysis process and then further converting the char into activated carbon (AC) through physical and chemical activation processes. The authors reviewed the review the electrochemical properties of tyre-derived activated carbon (TDAC) and critically analyzed 197 papers for this review. In additional, n=11 full-length articles were selected through the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis) bibliographic search method that discussed the application of TDAC in a wide variety of energy storage devices, including lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries, potassium-ion batteries, and supercapacitors. In several experimental studies, TDAC was utilized as an electrode in numerous energy devices due to its high specific capacitance properties.
The authors explained that both activation processes can produce AC with a surface area ranging from 400 to 900 m²/g, as well as that the surface morphology of TDAC influenced the electrochemical behaviors of the synthesized electrodes. The authors state that the crystal structure and surface morphology of TDAC enable efficient ion absorption and storage in the anode, essential for enhancing energy storage capacitances. Additionally, authors state that research demonstrates the promise of employing tyre-derived carbon as an electrode material, presenting an ecofriendly approach to recycling waste tyres. Moreover, stated that owing to its extensive surface area and porosity, TDAC finds application in water treatment and various gas refining processes, further emphasizing its potential in sustainable and versatile recycling practice.
However, this Review lacks the experiments analysis in order to confirm the safety of use of the of activated Carbon Derived from End-of-Life Tires for the presence of heavy metals (for example ICP or AAS), as well as leaching and evaporation tests of heavy metals during and after application in mentioned water treatment and gas refining processes.
I ask the authors to add it.
I recommend reconsidering after minor revision.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsPaper prepared with care. In my opinion, the paper lacked even a short mention (one paragraph) of the technical use of carbon fibres (composite materials). The use of such materials in mechanical engineering is becoming more and more common in: mobile machines, flying objects (aircraft, UAVs), ships or the space industry. An important and overview paper is:
Lubecki, M.; Stosiak, M.; Skačkauskas, P.; Karpenko, M.; Deptuła, A.; Urbanowicz, K. Development of Composite Hydraulic Actuators: A Review. Actuators 2022, 11, 365. https://doi.org/10.3390/act11120365
In my opinion, a reference in the text of the paper under review to this paper would be of interest to readers and would enhance the cognitive value of the paper, which is of a review nature.
There are minor errors in the text when giving numerical values for some quantities. Please see attached file for detailed comments.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
The style of the English language needs to be improved.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors1. Line 49-54: The manuscript needs a more comprehensive analysis or a comparative study to explain the mechanisms and efficiency comparisons between one-step and two-step processes for converting tyres into activated carbon (AC).
2. Line 102-141: Please add a summary or table that compares these reactors and their yields under varied conditions.
3. Line 259-273: Can the authors explain why TDAC is a suitable alternative to graphite? A comparative analysis of their structural and electrochemical differences would help understand TDAC's potential advantages.
4. Line 274-282: Please provide information on TDAC's long-term stability and safety for electrochemical applications. Also, please compare the durability and safety of TDAC and traditional graphite anodes in supercapacitors.
5. Line 320-331: Please explain how SSA in activated carbon can be optimized while maintaining structural stability, specifically in the context of TDAC.
6. Line 336-357: Can the authors provide more details on the methods used to control PSD in AC production?
7. Line 392-406: Please write more details on how scanning rates in CV affect TDAC's electrochemical performance in terms of capacitance and energy efficiency.
8. Line 407-432: Could the authors explain how the curves and capacitance values relate to TDAC electrode performance regarding energy density, power density, and cycle stability?
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsPlease adjust the citations of the new references and the reference list according to their positions in the article.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
