Sometimes pride shows through, but I think a recent paper by a researcher from the University of Alberta stands on its own (in spite of my Western Canadian roots).
Thanks to IEEE Spectrum, I was tipped off to the work of Dr. David Mitlin and postdoctoral fellow Zhi Li presented at the Materials Research Society’s Fall Meeting in Boston last week.
Mitlin’s work satisfies all the “green tech” desires one can imagine. These researchers from the University of Alberta use discarded egg shells from industrial egg production (think giant pharmaceutical vaccine production and cosmetics company age defying crèmes) to manufacture supercapacitors with energy densities they hope will eventually rival lithium ion batteries.
Not only do the researchers – who plan to spin out their idea into a startup they call Altacap – look to get the best of supercap and rechargeable battery technology, they will use bio-waste to do accomplish the task.
The eggshell membrane is heated in a carbonization process to activate the structure while retaining its porous structure – a key to providing a large surface area and higher capacity as a dielectric in the supercapacitors.
Continuing that western pioneer mentality of not letting anything go to waste, Mitlin’s team also uses carbon from the egg whites to create porous electrodes for the supercaps.
In commercializing the egg shell technology, Dr. Mitlin will obviously look at a wide range of applications including consumer electronics. However, he sees a big market with electric vehicles since supercapacitors in the place of conventional batteries could significantly reduce recharging times the bane of the electric car.
So one day when Altacap energy storage gets into consumer devices, it will bring a whole new meaning to “guts inside the gadgets,” not to mention “walking on egg shells.”