The team at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory discovered that carbon black, a man-made substance similar to graphite which is used in tyres, could be recovered and modified to produce high capacity anodes for lithium-ion batteries.

As well as giving the tyres a second life, the team discovered that this has a higher charge-discharge rate than commercial graphite anodes, which could result in a longer lifespan. The discovery could remove the need to develop a replacement for the carbon composite used to date, as well as its recycling benefits.

Parans Paranthaman, one of the leaders of the research team, said: ‘Using waste tires for products such as energy storage is very attractive not only from the carbon materials recovery perspective but also for controlling environmental hazards caused by waste tire stock piles.’