A review presents applications of different forms of elemental carbon in lead-acid batteries. Carbon materials are widely used as an additive to the negative active mass, as they improve the cycle life and charge acceptance of batteries, especially in high-rate partial state of charge (HRPSoC) conditions, which are relevant to hybrid and electric vehicles. Carbon nanostructures and composite materials can also play such a role. The positive active mass additions are generally less beneficial than the negative ones. Carbon can also be applied as a material for reticulated current collectors for both negative and positive plates. This modern technology allows to increase the battery specific energy and active mass utilization. Batteries with such collectors can show improved cycle life, owing to a better active mass mechanical support. Other recent use of carbon in secondary batteries is as supercapacitor electrodes. They can replace the negative plate or be connected in parallel with such a lead plate. These solutions increase the specific power and HRPSoC performance. Presented new carbon-based technologies in a construction of lead-acid batteries can significantly improve their performance and allow a further successful competition with other battery systems.

Motor vehicles are the backbone of global transport. In recent years, due to the rising costs of fossil fuels and increasing concerns about their negative impact on the natural environment, the development of low-emission power supply systems for vehicles has been observed. In order to create a stable and safe global transport system, an important issue seems to be the diversification of propulsion systems for vehicles, which can be achieved through the simultaneous development of conventional internal combustion vehicles, electric vehicles (both battery and fuel cell powered) as well as combustion hydrogen-powered vehicles. This publication presents an overview of commercial vehicles (available on the market) powered by internal combustion hydrogen engines. The work focuses on presenting the development of technology from the point of view of introducing ready-made hydrogen-powered vehicles to the market or technical solutions enabling the use of hydrogen mixtures in internal combustion engines. The study covers the history of the technology, dedicated hydrogen and bi-fuel vehicles, and vehicles with an engine powered by a mixture of conventional fuels and hydrogen. It presents basic technology parameters and solutions introduced by leading vehicle manufacturers in the vehicle market.

The extraction of metals from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) with ionic liquids (ILs), Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) and organophosphorous-based acid (Cyanex 272) has been presented. The study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of the application of the new leaching liquids, and the new method of extraction of metals from the leachate and the solid phase with or without the leaching process. Solvent extraction from the liquid leachate phase has been studied in detail with popular ILs, such as tetraoctylphosphonium bromide, {[P_8,8,8,8][Br] and tributyltetradecylphosphonium chloride, [P_4,4,4,14][Cl] using Aqueous Biphasic Systems (ABS) method. Trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinate, [P_6,6,6,14][Cyanex272], ([P_6,6,6,14][BTMPP]), trihexyltetradecylphosphonium thiocyanate, [P_6,6,6,14][SCN], methyltrioctylammonium chloride (Aliquat 336), as well as bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)phosphinic acid (Cyanex 272) were also used in the extraction of metals from the leachate. Two DESs (1) {choline chloride + lactic acid, 1:2} and (2) {choline chloride + malonic acid, 1:1} were used in the extraction of metals from the solid phase. The extraction behavior of metals with DESs was compared with that performed with three new bi-functional ILs: didecyldimethylammonium salicylate, [N_10,10,1,1][Sal], didecyldimethylammonium bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate, [N_10,10,1,1][D2EHPA], and didecyldimethylammonium bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinate, [N_10,10,1,1][Cyanex272]. The [P_6,6,6,14][Cyanex272]/toluene and (Cyanex 272 + diethyl phosphite ester) mixtures exhibited a high extraction efficiency of about 50–90% for different metal ions from the leachate. High extraction efficiency of about 90–100 wt% with the ABS method using the mixture {[P_8,8,8,8][Br], or [P_4,4,4,14][Cl] + NaCl + H₂O₂ + post-leaching liquid phase} was obtained. The DES 2 revealed the efficiency of copper extraction, E_Cu = 15.8 wt% and silver, E_Ag = 20.1 wt% at pH = 5 from the solid phase after the thermal pre-treatment and acid leaching. The solid phase extraction efficiency after thermal pre-treatment only was (E_Cu = 9.6 wt% and E_Ag = 14.2 wt%). The use of new bi-functional ILs did not improve the efficiency of the extraction of metal ions from the solid phase. Process factors such as solvent concentration, extraction additives, stripping and leaching methods, temperature, pH and liquid/solid as well as organic/water ratios were under control. For all the systems, the selectivity and distribution ratios were described. The proposed extraction processes can represent alternative paths in new technologies for recovering metals from electronic secondary waste.

Rechargeable power sources are an essential element of large-scale energy systems based on renewable energy sources. One of the major challenges in rechargeable battery research is the development of electrode materials with good performance and low cost. Carbon-based materials have a wide range of properties, high electrical conductivity, and overall stability during cycling, making them suitable materials for batteries, including stationary and large-scale systems. This review summarizes the latest progress on materials based on elemental carbon for modern rechargeable electrochemical power sources, such as commonly used lead–acid and lithium-ion batteries. Use of carbon in promising technologies (lithium–sulfur, sodium-ion batteries, and supercapacitors) is also described. Carbon is a key element leading to more efficient energy storage in these power sources. The applications, modifications, possible bio-sources, and basic properties of carbon materials, as well as recent developments, are described in detail. Carbon materials presented in the review include nanomaterials (e.g., nanotubes, graphene) and composite materials with metals and their compounds.

Reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) plated electrochemically with a thin layer of lead was investigated as a carrier and current collector material for the positive and negative plates for lead-acid batteries. Flooded 2 V single lead-acid cells, with capacities up to 46 Ah, containing two positive and two negative plates were assembled and subjected to charge/discharge cycling tests, self-discharge characterization and Peukert’s dependences determination. They could retain 72% of discharge capacity after 12 months of storage in room temperature and showed similar performance to a standard cell during cycle life test. A 2-V cell using a carbon material with higher conductivity than RVC was also constructed. It showed improved performance under higher current discharges, comparable to standard lead-acid batteries. Additional cycling tests were performed on a complete 12-V RVC-based battery. It completed almost three times the number of cycles of lead-acid batteries with standard current collectors. Obtained results are promising and show that application of a conducting porous carbon as a carrier and current-collector will significantly increase the specific capacity of the lead-acid battery and self-discharge characterization and cycling charging–discharging battery durability.

Lithium-ion portable batteries (LiPBs) contain valuable elements such as cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), lithium (Li) and manganese (Mn), which can be recovered through solid–liquid extraction using choline chloride-based Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) and bi-functional ionic liquids (ILs). This study was carried out to investigate the extraction of metals from solid powder, black mass (BM), obtained from LiPBs, with various solvents used: six choline chloride-based DESs in combination with organic acids: lactic acid (1:2, DES 1), malonic acid (1:1, DES 2), succinic acid (1:1, DES 3), glutaric acid (1:1, DES 4) and citric acid (1:1, DES 5 and 2:1, DES 6). Various additives, such as didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDACl) surfactant, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA), sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC), pentapotassium bis(peroxymonosulphate) bis(sulphate) (PHM), (glycine + H₂O₂) or (glutaric acid + H₂O₂) were used. The best efficiency of metal extraction was obtained with the mixture of {DES 2 + 15 g of glycine + H₂O₂} in two-stage extraction at pH = 3, T = 333 K, 2 h. In order to obtain better extraction efficiency towards Co, Ni, Li and Mn (100%) and for Cu (75%), the addition of glycine was used. The obtained extraction results using choline chloride-based DESs were compared with those obtained with three bi-functional ILs: didecyldimethylammonium bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinate, [N_10,10,1,1][Cyanex272], didecyldimethylammonium bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate, [N_10,10,1,1][D2EHPA], and trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinate, [P_6,6,6,14][Cyanex272]/toluene. The results of the extraction of all metal ions with these bi-functional ILs were only at the level of 35–50 wt%. The content of metal ions in aqueous and stripped organic solutions was determined by ICP-OES. In this work, we propose an alternative and highly efficient concept for the extraction of valuable metals from BM of LiPBs using DESs and ILs at low temperatures instead of acid leaching at high temperatures.