Sustainable Electrode Materials from Agricultural Waste for Next-Generation Energy Devices
Our group is dedicated to advancing sustainable materials for electrochemical energy storage, with a primary emphasis on high-performance supercapacitors. Central to our research is the upcycling of agricultural biomass, particularly nitrogen-rich residues like bean meal waste, into functional carbon materials through green, scalable processes. We engineer self-doped porous carbons without the need for external dopants or harsh chemicals. Key features of our materials include tailored pore architecture for ion mobility, high surface area and conductivity and enhanced redox activity via intrinsic nitrogen functionalities. These design strategies enable high energy and power densities, rapid charge-discharge rates and excellent long-term cycling stability for the energy devices.
Our materials are engineered for integration into diverse supercapacitor systems used in:
- Regenerative braking and start-stop modules in electric and hybrid vehicles
- Bridge-power and short-term backup systems for data centers, medical electronics, and telecommunications infrastructure
- Wearable health monitors and portable diagnostic devices requiring quick charge cycles and long service life
- Energy-autonomous IoT devices and environmental sensors for precision agriculture and remote monitoring
- High-power industrial applications such as automated robotics, and smart grid stabilizers