Penn Senior Design
Team Name: JAAC (Members: Julia Dase, Anna Hallac, Chiara Bruzzi, Amelia Pilot)
Project Information: Billions of tires reach the end of their lifespan each year, contributing to major environmental and health concerns due to insufficient waste management. This project proposes a sustainable solution by extracting toxic compounds from end-of-life tire treads and repurposing the material for energy storage. The process involves cryogenic milling to generate fine particles, followed by chemical treatments to remove carcinogenic compounds like 6PPD and its byproducts. Toxicity testing ensures the material’s safety, while heat treatment and acid etching convert it into hard carbon with enhanced surface properties for ion storage in sodium-ion and lithium-ion batteries. Electrochemical testing shows promising battery performance, especially for lithium-ion cells.
