'Jelly to Joule': Direct Laser Writing of Sustainable Jellyfish-Based 'Graphenic Silicon' Anodes for Environmentally Remediating High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

The ramifications of global climate change and resource scarcities have made it imperative to re-examine the definition of sustainable energy-storage systems. It is crucial to recognize that not all renewable resources are inherently sustainable, and their full impact on the environment must be assessed. With the proliferation of invasive jellyfish species wreaking havoc on marine ecosystems and economies worldwide, utilizing overabundant jellyfish as a carbon source presents an opportunity to create energy-storage systems that are both financially beneficial and environmentally remediating. Accordingly, a comprehensive approach to sustainability requires eco-friendly solutions throughout the entire lifecycle, from material sourcing to battery production, without compromising high-performance requirements. For commercial lithium-ion batteries, most electrode syntheses employed today are energy-intensive, multiple-steps, complex, and additives-heavy; this work pioneers the elegant straightforward use of low-energy laser irradiation of jellyfish biomass carbon precursors embedded with electrochemically active material for the creation of additive-free whole composite anodes, as opposed to use of subsequent additional processes for creation of composites. Here, a laser-induced conductive 3D porous carbon composite thin anode from raw jellyfish biomass embedded with silicon nanoparticles is presented for the first time. The first jellyfish-based LIBs display outstanding cyclic stability (>1000 cycles), excellent capacity retention (>50% retention after 1000 cycles), exceptional coulombic efficiency (>99%), superb reversible gravimetric capacity (>2000 mAh/g) and high rate performance capability (>1.6 A/g), paving a new path to future sustainable energy production.