Successfully converting fallen autumn leaves into materials for making electronics

Chinese scientists have successfully converted fallen autumn leaves into porous carbon materials used to make electronic devices.

Scientists at Qilu University of Technology, China, have found a new method to turn fallen leaves into a porous carbon material that can be used to produce high-tech electronic devices. The research results were published in the journal Renewable & Sustainable Energy in August 2017, according to Eurek Alert.

The scientists first ground the dried leaves into a powder, then heated them at 220 degrees Celsius for 12 hours. This created a powder containing tiny carbon spheres. The team then treated the powder with a potassium hydroxide solution, increasing the temperature in a series of steps from 450 to 800 degrees Celsius.

After chemically treating the surface of the carbon spheres, making them extremely porous, the final product is a black carbon powder with a very large surface area, which can be used to make capacitors. Tests showed that supercapacitors made from porous carbon material have a capacitance of 367 Farads (F)/gram, about three times higher than graphene capacitors.

In addition to leaves, the team also successfully converted potato waste, corn, pine wood, straw and many other agricultural wastes into porous carbon materials.

Hongfang Ma, lead researcher, and colleagues hope to further improve the electrochemical properties of porous carbon materials by optimizing the preparation, blending, or modification of the feedstock./.

According to VNE