Lignin is a by-product from manufacturing paper from wood pulp. In nature, it stiffens the walls of plant cells to withstand compression by gravity. Yet in industry we relegate lignin to a binder for particle board, and other composite wood products. Well that was before researchers at Linköping University in Sweden invented a lignin battery that keeps going for 8,000 cycles.
A Lignin Battery To Bring Light To Impoverished People
Reverant Crispin is a professor of organic electronics at Linköping University with a mission. Solar panels are affordable in his own country, yet the lights do not come on at night in low-income nations. So he set his mind to developing a low-cost battery even if it was not as powerful as lithium ion.
Prof Crispin and his team developed a lignin battery that uses zinc and lignin to store and release energy. This combination is cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly according to the press release we link to below.
The battery is also stable according to information from Linköping University. So stable in fact that it retains 80% of its original capacity after 8,000 recharge – discharge cycles. Moreover, it holds its charge for close to one week. Compare this with other zinc-based batteries that discharge in a couple hours!
New Technology Behind Groundbreaking Success
Rechargeable zinc-based batteries have not previously proved successful, according to the Linköping University press release. However, we understand that Prof Crispin and his team stabilized theirs with a ‘potassium polyacrylate based water-in-polymer salt electrolyte’, achieving ‘very high stability’.
“Both zinc and lignin are super cheap, and the battery is easily recyclable,” principle research engineer Ziyauddin Khan explains. “And if you calculate the cost per usage cycle, it becomes an extremely cheap battery compared to lithium-ion batteries.”
“We can view it as our duty to help low-income countries avoid making the same mistakes we did,” the Prof points out. “When they build their infrastructure, they need to start with green technology right away.” But is his idea a vision or an idle dream? We’ll have to wait and see whether his lignin battery gets the backers he needs to succeed.
More Information
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