Wood Biochar Monolith as Low-cost, High-performance Nanocarbon Material for Electrical Energy Storage

With the rapid development of the economy, the demand for electrical energy storage is also increasing. However, the lack of high-efficiency, economical and reliable energy storage technologies makes it difficult for current electrochemical systems to utilize renewable energy and enable the circular economy fully. As an efficient and green energy storage device, the supercapacitor has the characteristics of high-power density and long cycle life. It has many applications in consumer electronics, transportation, communication and other fields. This Mitacs project focuses on developing a new electrode material – wood biochar monolith (WBM) for high-performance supercapacitors. The project will explore three aspects of WBM: the effectiveness of chemical modification in enlarging the accessible internal surface area, the feasibility of combining WBM with high entropy alloy (HEA) for elevated capacitance and the determination of factors controlling the mechanical properties of WBM, such as hardness.
The ultimate outcome of the project is the procedures that allow the creation of commercial supercapacitors with WBM electrodes.

Faculty Supervisor:

Charles Jia

Student:

Partner:

Tianjin University

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Toronto

Program: