Converting Biomass Waste into Energy Storage Materials

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A sustainable circular economy relies on the development of new processes and technologies to convert waste into valuable products. This collaborative project between McMaster University (Canada) and the Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech, Estonia) will develop high-surface area carbon materials with controlled nanostructures using biomass waste that is produced in large quantities from industrial pulp and paper processes. The produced carbon nanomaterials will be tailored and optimized to have high performance for application in supercapacitors, which are high power density sustainable energy storage devices that find application in consumer electronics and electric vehicles. The challenge currently plaguing supercapacitors is the lack of inexpensive and high-performance electrode materials that must be prepared from low-cost and environmentally abundant precursors, which will be addressed by this research effort. The proposed project combines Dr. Kruusenberg's (TalTech) expertise in the preparation and characterization of bio-mass derived products, along with his established partnerships with European Union based pulp and paper companies; with Dr. Higgins (McMaster) expertise in the evaluation, characterization and integration of nanostructured carbon materials into electrochemical energy conversion and storage technologies. The results from this project will be a crucial step towards the development of bio-waste derived electrode materials for sustainable energy conversion technologies, and it is expected the results from this one-year materials development project will be leveraged to secure a larger, multi-year collaborative project between the two teams. In light of urgent sustainability and climate challenges facing the world, there is a global emphasis being placed on biomass utilization and establishment of a circular economy. This project will provide meaningful contributions to this area by developing routes to valorize wastes produced by the ubiquitous pulp and paper sector for use in supercapacitors that have a global market size expected to exceed $2.6 billion USD by 2025.