Biomass-Derived Sustainable Electrode Material for Low-Grade Heat Harvesting
The ever-increasing energy demand and global warming caused by fossil fuels push for the exploration of sustainable and eco-friendly energy sources. Waste thermal energy has been considered as one of the promising candidates for sustainable power generation as it is abundantly available everywhere i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Nanomaterials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/13/9/1488 |
| _version_ | 1797601997696794624 |
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| author | Jonghak Park Taewoo Kim |
| author_facet | Jonghak Park Taewoo Kim |
| author_sort | Jonghak Park |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The ever-increasing energy demand and global warming caused by fossil fuels push for the exploration of sustainable and eco-friendly energy sources. Waste thermal energy has been considered as one of the promising candidates for sustainable power generation as it is abundantly available everywhere in our daily lives. Recently, thermo-electrochemical cells based on the temperature-dependent redox potential have been intensely studied for efficiently harnessing low-grade waste heat. Despite considerable progress in improving thermocell performance, no attempt was made to develop electrode materials from renewable precursors. In this work, we report the synthesis of a porous carbon electrode from mandarin peel waste through carbonization and activation processes. The influence of carbonization temperature and activating agent/carbon precursor ratio on the performance of thermocell was studied to optimize the microstructure and elemental composition of electrode materials. Due to its well-developed pore structure and nitrogen doping, the mandarin peel-derived electrodes carbonized at 800 °C delivered the maximum power density. The areal power density (<i>P</i>) of 193.4 mW m<sup>−2</sup> and <i>P/</i>(Δ<i>T</i>)<sup>2</sup> of 0.236 mW m<sup>−2</sup> K<sup>−2</sup> were achieved at Δ<i>T</i> of 28.6 K. However, KOH-activated electrodes showed no performance enhancement regardless of activating agent/carbon precursor ratio. The electrode material developed here worked well under different temperature differences, proving its feasibility in harvesting electrical energy from various types of waste heat sources. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:11:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-61a35625e880471cb9d1e00ba7eece9e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:11:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanomaterials |
| spelling | doaj.art-61a35625e880471cb9d1e00ba7eece9e2023-11-17T23:26:44ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912023-04-01139148810.3390/nano13091488Biomass-Derived Sustainable Electrode Material for Low-Grade Heat HarvestingJonghak Park0Taewoo Kim1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Incheon National University, Incheon 22012, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Incheon National University, Incheon 22012, Republic of KoreaThe ever-increasing energy demand and global warming caused by fossil fuels push for the exploration of sustainable and eco-friendly energy sources. Waste thermal energy has been considered as one of the promising candidates for sustainable power generation as it is abundantly available everywhere in our daily lives. Recently, thermo-electrochemical cells based on the temperature-dependent redox potential have been intensely studied for efficiently harnessing low-grade waste heat. Despite considerable progress in improving thermocell performance, no attempt was made to develop electrode materials from renewable precursors. In this work, we report the synthesis of a porous carbon electrode from mandarin peel waste through carbonization and activation processes. The influence of carbonization temperature and activating agent/carbon precursor ratio on the performance of thermocell was studied to optimize the microstructure and elemental composition of electrode materials. Due to its well-developed pore structure and nitrogen doping, the mandarin peel-derived electrodes carbonized at 800 °C delivered the maximum power density. The areal power density (<i>P</i>) of 193.4 mW m<sup>−2</sup> and <i>P/</i>(Δ<i>T</i>)<sup>2</sup> of 0.236 mW m<sup>−2</sup> K<sup>−2</sup> were achieved at Δ<i>T</i> of 28.6 K. However, KOH-activated electrodes showed no performance enhancement regardless of activating agent/carbon precursor ratio. The electrode material developed here worked well under different temperature differences, proving its feasibility in harvesting electrical energy from various types of waste heat sources.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/13/9/1488thermocellthermogalvanic cellthermo-electrochemical celllow-grade heatbiomass |
| spellingShingle | Jonghak Park Taewoo Kim Biomass-Derived Sustainable Electrode Material for Low-Grade Heat Harvesting Nanomaterials thermocell thermogalvanic cell thermo-electrochemical cell low-grade heat biomass |
| title | Biomass-Derived Sustainable Electrode Material for Low-Grade Heat Harvesting |
| title_full | Biomass-Derived Sustainable Electrode Material for Low-Grade Heat Harvesting |
| title_fullStr | Biomass-Derived Sustainable Electrode Material for Low-Grade Heat Harvesting |
| title_full_unstemmed | Biomass-Derived Sustainable Electrode Material for Low-Grade Heat Harvesting |
| title_short | Biomass-Derived Sustainable Electrode Material for Low-Grade Heat Harvesting |
| title_sort | biomass derived sustainable electrode material for low grade heat harvesting |
| topic | thermocell thermogalvanic cell thermo-electrochemical cell low-grade heat biomass |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/13/9/1488 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jonghakpark biomassderivedsustainableelectrodematerialforlowgradeheatharvesting AT taewookim biomassderivedsustainableelectrodematerialforlowgradeheatharvesting |