Russian Scientists Develop Fast Method to Produce Carbon Materials from Cotton Waste

Original article: Científicos rusos desarrollan un método rápido para producir materiales de carbono a partir de residuos de algodón

Researchers from the National University of Science and Technology «MISIS» and the Advanced Materials and Technologies Research Institute of Russia have created an innovative method for producing carbon materials from cotton waste, reducing the process time from one and a half hours to under five minutes, as reported on the «MISIS» website.

The resulting materials can be used in supercapacitors, devices that can store and release energy quickly, which are in high demand in electronics, transportation, and energy storage systems.

In contrast to traditional methods that require prolonged heating in ovens to produce activated carbon, the scientists employed microwave treatment in a traveling waveguide, allowing for uniform and rapid heating of the material. The raw material used was cotton waste from the textile industry, a renewable resource with a high carbon content.

According to researcher Valentin Berestov, the material obtained exhibits a hierarchical porous structure that combines small pores and larger channels, facilitating the movement of ions within the electrode and enhancing the performance of supercapacitors, particularly under high loads.

Tests demonstrated that the electrodes retain more than 95% of their capacity even after 20,000 charge and discharge cycles, outperforming similar materials produced through traditional methods.

The researchers emphasize that the technology can be adapted to other types of biomass and scaled for industrial production, opening new possibilities for rapidly and environmentally-friendly manufacturing of materials intended for next-generation energy storage systems, ranging from portable electronic devices to electric transportation and industrial applications.

Via TV BRICS