Scientists turn organic waste into powerful battery solution [View all]

Last edited Wed Jan 8, 2025, 11:14 AM - Edit history (1)

Green battery discovery turns trash into treasure.
By
Jay Kakade
8 Jan, 2025

2 min read
Updated 8 Jan, 2025

A team of researchers at Northwestern University has made a sustainable innovation by converting organic industrial waste products into an efficient storage agent. While there have been several works that aim to convert industrial waste into batteries, this new approach uses a waste molecule – triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO).

Almost all devices, even cars, now rely on batteries that use metals like lithium and cobalt. Since these metals are sourced through intensive and invasive mining, shifting batteries away from metal-based solutions is critical to facilitating the green energy transition.

Organic industrial synthesis processes produce thousands of tons of waste annually, ultimately rendered useless, and must be disposed of carefully.

New research published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society uses a “one-pot” reaction to transform TPPO into a usable product with the potential to store energy. This finding could open new avenues for developing waste-derived organic redox flow batteries.

More:
https://www.techexplorist.com/scientists-turn-organic-waste-into-powerful-battery-solution/95455/