Last year, the global capacity for renewable energy saw a significant increase of nearly 50%, driven by advances in solar and wind power. However, the challenge remains in storing this excess energy efficiently. While carbon materials like graphene are promising due to their excellent conductivity and environmental abundance, their production is marred by high costs and ecological concerns.
In response, researchers Mohan Reddy Pallavolu, Jae Hak Jung, Sang Woo Joo, and their team explored alternative sources of carbon. They developed a straightforward and economical technique to convert chicken fat into electrically conductive nanostructures suitable for supercapacitors. The process begins with rendering the fat using a gas flame gun, followed by burning the resultant oil in a flame wick setup similar to an oil lamp. The soot collected from this process, examined under electron microscopy, revealed uniform spherical lattices resembling onion layers, composed of concentric graphite rings.
Further experiments showed that treating these carbon nanoparticles with thiourea significantly enhanced their electrical properties. When utilized as the negative electrode in an asymmetric supercapacitor, these treated nanoparticles exhibited improved capacitance, durability, and energy density, enabling them to power red, green, and blue LEDs effectively. This breakthrough underscores the potential of using food waste as a viable carbon source in energy storage technologies, pushing the boundaries of green energy innovation.
Research Report:Strategic Way of Synthesizing Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Nano-onions Using Waste Chicken Fat Oil for Energy Storage Devices
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