Microwaves Power a New Technology for Batteries

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Researchers have created a technique to turn waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the most recyclable polymers, into components of batteries.

The technique uses an ultrafast microwave irradiation process to turn PET flakes into disodium terephthalate and use that as battery anode material. This could address the growth in the proliferation of renewable energy conversion and storage, which stems from increasing awareness of climate change and energy resource limitation.

The team tried the approach with both lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery cells. While lithium-ion technology is currently dominating both the portable electronics and electric vehicles market, sodium-ion battery research also has gained significant attention due to its low cost and appealing electrochemical performance in grid applications.

The applicability of the microwave technique on organic reactions has gained attention in recent times due to the advantage of the rapid reaction process. The team accomplished complete conversion of PET to disodium terephthalate within 120 seconds in a typical household microwave setup.

For more information, contact Chris Adam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; 765-588-3341.