IITH researchers use corn husk to produce carbon electrode for super capacitors

Corn husk waste, currently burnt, has potential to be converted to a valuable electrode material and provide additional earnings to the farmer

July 29, 2020 09:30 pm | Updated August 04, 2020 10:32 am IST - SANGAREDDY

An Indian tourist boy runs though a garden lined with dried leaves of Chinar trees on the outskirts of Srinagar, India, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

An Indian tourist boy runs though a garden lined with dried leaves of Chinar trees on the outskirts of Srinagar, India, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

The Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) researchers have developed a simple and cost-effective method to derive ‘activated carbon electrode’ material from corn husk for high-voltage super capacitors. Their electrode showed better electrochemical performance (high-energy density and high-power density) when compared with conventional super capacitors.

This development is important for India, especially for States such as Uttar Pradesh and the combined Andhra Pradesh-Telangana States, which are the first and second largest producers of corn in the country respectively. They produce a large amount of corn husk waste, much of which is currently burnt as its potential to be converted to a valuable electrode material is not harnessed owing to lack of awareness, expertise and technology.

This research by IITH on affordable and efficient methods can enable this conversion, providing additional earning opportunity for the corn farmer and provision of a sustainable energy source.

The research was led by Dr. Atul Suresh Deshpande, Associate Professor, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering, IITH, in collaboration with Dr. T. N. Rao, Associate Director, International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, along with their research students M. Usha Rani and K. Nanaji (Project Scientist). Their research paper detailing the synthesis procedure and the electrochemical performance of the material produced has been recently published in the reputed peer-reviewed Journal of Power Sources .

In the global sector, rapid advancements in adopting new technology and fast evolving green energy systems are trending in the super capacitor’s market. It is projected to share USD 720 million by 2025 market value, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12 per cent from 2020 to 2025. Carbon-based electrodes are playing a crucial role in the development of energy storage devices. Carbon-based electrodes are typically derived from expensive, high purity precursors such as polymers, organic precursors, high purity gases using various methods. The production of carbon electrodes from biomass is a simpler straightforward process.

In collaboration with ARCI (Hyderabad), the IIT Hyderabad team has developed activated carbon electrode using simple materials – corn husk and KOH. Explaining his research, Dr. Deshpande said, “Activated carbon electrode material with porous sheet-like morphology has been prepared using corn husk through carbonisation followed by KOH activation. Due to the low-cost precursors and simple processing method, this process of producing activated carbon can be easily adapted for large-scale commercial production.”

To obtain the high surface area activated carbon with porous sheet-like morphology from corn husk, the researchers added KOH as an activating agent. KOH helps in the formation of sheet-like morphology. The synergy of morphology and high specific surface area (1378 m2 g-1) improve the storage capacity of the activated carbon electrode material.

Explaining further, Dr. T. N. Rao, Associate Director, International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, added, “Activated carbon derived from natural sources is very promising electrode material for super capacitors, and the well-known Maxwell company uses coconut-derived activated carbon in their super capacitors. The key scientific challenge in this research is pore size engineering of activated carbon with high surface area and suitable pore size that allows the electrolyte ions to adsorb into pores to maximum extent which in turn give high capacity. The group at IITH in collaboration with ARCI has succeeded in converting corn husk into high-performing activated carbon for super capacitor application. Corn husk being widely produced waste, it is also scalable from technology point as well.”

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