Lithium-ion batteries used in electrical appliances have a limited lifespan. Over time, their capacity to hold a charge decreases and their performance degrade in extremely hot or cold weather. Concerned about the safety and sustainability of lithium-ion batteries, scientists around the world are experimenting with alternative battery products instead. For that purpose, new methods are being tested for future electricity generation using various materials from diamonds to fruits with a strong smell.
During these innovations, Winston Gomez, a chemical engineer at the University of Sydney, and his team are not only trying to find a new method for powering devices, but it is also offering solutions to the problem of food waste. They manage to create a supercapacitor that can charge mobile phone tablets from the waste released from durian, the world’s most fragrant fruit, and jackfruit, the world’s largest fruit.
This supercapacitor is an alternative way of storing energy. They act like reservoirs and quickly charge and release energy. They are made from expensive materials such as graphene, but Gomez’s team has turned the inedible parts of durians and jackfruits into carbon aerogels and stored them as natural energy. They have heated, frozen and dried the inedible spongy cores of fruits in a furnace at a temperature of more than 1500C. The black highly porous ultralight structures they were left with were then turned into low-cost supercapacitor electrodes.
These supercapacitors can be charged in 30 seconds and can be used to power various devices. Being able to charge a mobile phone in a minute is incredible, say the designers here. The dream of these researchers is to use these sustainable supercapacitors to store electricity from such renewable energy sources for use in vehicles and homes. If it happens like that, the dream of producing environmentally friendly energy from wasted fruits will come true all over the world.
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