I wonder then – if future batteries were to be made out of wood of sorts, then isn’t it more flammable than today’s lithium ion batteries which are used in a myriad of devices? Well, researchers are currently working on a battery that is made from lignin, which is actually a waste product derived from the paper-making process. According to Grzegorz Milczarek from the Poznan University of Technology in Poland, working hand in hand with Olle Inganäs from Linkoping University in Sweden, they claimed to have figured out a way to merge lignin with the conductive polymer polypyrrole, where the end result would be a battery cathode which will see action when the right time arrives.
Lignin doubles up as an insulator, while polypyrrole functions as a conductor which is capable of holding its own electric charge. Since the utilization of lignin would mean one is able to make use of waste product from wood, this might very well be the ticket to a future of renewable energy.
Filed in . Read more about Battery.