Brown liquor and solar cells to provide sustainable electricity

 A breakthrough for inexpensive electricity from solar cells, and a massive investment in wind power, will mean a need to store energy in an intelligent way. According to research at Linköping University, published in Science, batteries of biological waste products from pulp mills could provide the solution.

Organic solar cells based on conductive plastic is a low cost alternative that has achieved high enough performance to be upscaled and, in turn, become competitive. However, solar electricity must be able to be stored from day to night, as well as electricity from wind turbines from windy to calm days.

In conventional batteries metal oxides conduct the charge. Materials, such as cobalt, are expensive and a limited resource, therefore, low cost solutions are sought preferably with renewable materials.

"Nature solved the problem long ago," says Olle Inganäs, professor of biomolecular and organic electronics at Linköping University (LiU) and lead author of the article in a recent edition of Science.

He drew inspiration from the process of photosynthesis, where electrons charged by solar energy are transported by quinones; electrochemically active molecules based on benzene rings composed of six carbon atoms. Inganäs chose the raw material brown liquor that is a by-product from the manufacture of paper pulp. The brown liquor is largely composed of lignin, a biological polymer in the plant cell walls.

To utilise the quinones as charge carriers in batteries, Inganäs and his Polish colleague Grzegorz Milczarek devised a thin film from a mixture of pyrrole and lignin derivatives from the brown liquor. The film, 0.5 microns in thickness, is used as a cathode in the battery.

The goal is to offer ways to store renewable electricity where it is produced, without constructing up large grids. In several countries, major wind power investments are planned. Meanwhile, the performance of cheap organic solar cells has now reached a critical level. A research team at the University of California, Los Angeles, has recently reported efficiency of more than 10 percent of the energy of the captured sunlight.

According to Inganäs who for many years conducted research on organic solar cells, the efficiency is sufficient to initiate an industrial scale up of the technology.

"Now we need more research into new energy storage based on cheap and renewable raw materials. Lignin constitutes 20-30 percent of the biomass of a tree, so it's a source that never ends."

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Linköping University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Grzegorz Milczarek and Olle Inganäs. Renewable Cathode Materials from Biopolymer/Conjugated Polymer Interpenetrating Networks. Science, 2012 DOI: 10.1126/science.1215159]

Chemistry professor developing sustainable bioplastics

Chemistry Professor Eugene Chen and his co-workers have invented a platform of processes to convert small molecules derived from nonedible plant biomass to bioplastics. The molecules can be transformed into different materials depending on the catalyst that is added to them. That catalyst can either be an organic compound or a metal-based compound.

Officials with CSU Ventures, the university’s technology transfer arm, are optimistic about the commercial potential of this work and have filed several provisional patent applications on Chen’s processes. Two related studies were published last year and this month, both in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

“Each year, the U.S. alone manufactures almost 90 billion pounds of synthetic plastics derived predominantly from fossil fuels, which are not renewable,” Chen said. “There’s a great deal of concern to develop sustainable polymers or materials that can displace those petrochemical polymers. There’s huge interest in academia and industry, so the largest companies such as Dow Chemical, Dupont and BASF are pursuing sustainable chemical feedstocks to make materials.”

The organic process Chen created could be used to produce commodity plastics for everyday uses such as artificial glass, dental resins, automobile parts and furniture. His metal-based process would be used to produce high-performance engineering plastic materials that have superb mechanical and physical properties.

Chen has found in his laboratory that commercially available organic catalysts applied to small molecules derived from plant biomass are very active and efficient – the reaction achieves completion within a minute – and non-toxic. He also has developed a metal-based catalyst system that produces “stereoregular” polymers that exhibit superior physical and mechanical properties, meaning they’re very robust and more resistant to such factors as temperature, liquids, chemicals and scratches.

Plastic optical fibers, for example, must sustain exposure to the elements and still perform at a high level so they don’t interrupt telecommunications service.

“These materials require high resistance to extreme conditions including high temperature and unexpected environmental invasion,” Chen said.

Chen has done previous research showing that dissolving plant biomass in “green” solvent ionic liquids - salts that melt at low temperatures - converts more sugars needed for biofuel more quickly than traditional methods. The discovery was an important step in the move toward the use of nonedible plant biomass as an alternative source for fuel. Most recently, Chen’s lab has filed a provisional patent for a new catalytic process in ionic liquids to convert plant biomass to platform chemicals.

Chen joined Colorado State in 2000 from Dow Chemical where he researched production of petroleum-based polyolefin plastics. His current research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Yuetao Zhang, a research scientist; Yangjian Hu, a postdoctoral fellow; and Garret Miyake, a graduate student, all work with Chen and contribute to the research.

Provided by Colorado State University

Researchers produce cheap sugars for sustainable biofuel production

Iowa State University's Robert C. Brown keeps a small vial of brown, sweet-smelling liquid on his office table.

"It looks like something you could pour on your pancakes," he said. "In many respects, it is similar to molasses."

Brown, in fact, calls it "pyrolytic molasses."

That's because it was produced by the fast pyrolysis of biomass such as corn stalks or wood chips. Fast pyrolysis involves quickly heating the biomass without oxygen to produce liquid or gas products.

"We think this is a new way to make inexpensive sugars from biomass," said Brown, an Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering, the Gary and Donna Hoover Chair in Mechanical Engineering and the Iowa Farm Bureau Director of Iowa State's Bioeconomy Institute.

That's a big deal because those sugars can be further processed into biofuels. Brown and other Iowa State researchers believe pyrolysis of lignocelluslosic biomass has the potential to be the cheapest way to produce biofuels or biorenewable chemicals.

Brown and Iowa State researchers will present their ideas and findings during tcbiomass2011, the International Conference on Thermochemical Conversion Science in Chicago Sept. 28-30. On Thursday, Sept, 29, Brown will address the conference with a plenary talk describing how large amounts of sugars can be produced from biomass by a simple pretreatment before pyrolysis. He'll also explain how these sugars can be economically recovered from the products of pyrolysis.

A poster session following Brown's talk will highlight thermochemical technologies developed by 19 Iowa State research teams, including processes that:
increase the yield of sugar from fast pyrolysis of biomass with a pretreatment that neutralizes naturally occurring alkali that otherwise interferes with the release of sugarsprevent burning of sugar released during pyrolysis by rapidly transporting it out of the hot reaction zonerecover sugar from the heavy end of bio-oil that has been separated into various fractionsseparate sugars from the heavy fractions of bio-oil using a simple water-washing process.In addition to Brown, key contributors to the pyrolysis research at Iowa State include Brent Shanks, the Mike and Jean Steffenson Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals based at Iowa State; Christopher Williams, professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering; Zhiyou Wen, associate professor of food science and human nutrition; Laura Jarboe, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering; Xianglan Bai, adjunct assistant professor of aerospace engineering; Marjorie Rover and Sunitha Sadula, research scientists at the Center for Sustainable Environmental Technologies; Dustin Dalluge, a graduate student in mechanical engineering; and Najeeb Kuzhiyil, a former doctoral student who is now working for GE Transportation in Erie, Penn.

Their work has been supported by the eight-year, $22.5 million ConocoPhillips Biofuels Program at Iowa State. The program was launched in April 2007.

Brown said Iowa State will – literally – take a bus load of students and researchers to the Chicago conference to present their work on thermochemical technologies, including production of sugars from biomass.

"The Department of Energy has been working for 35 years to get sugar out of biomass," Brown said. "Most of the focus has been on use of enzymes, which remains extremely expensive. What we've developed is a simpler method based on the heating of biomass."

Provided by Iowa State University (news : web)

BASF intensifies research and development of innovative products for sustainable electromobility

 Batteries are the key technology for the electromobility of the future. Over the next five years, BASF will be investing a three-digit million euro sum in researching, developing and the production of battery materials. Part of the investment is being channeled into the construction of a production plant for advanced cathode materials in Elyria, Ohio. This new facility with an investment volume of more than $50 million is scheduled to supply the market with cathode materials for the production of high-performance lithium-ion batteries from mid-2012.

In addition to innovative materials for cathodes, BASF has recently also entered the field of electrolyte development. High-quality tailored electrolytes are essential for battery performance. “By entering into the electrolyte business we are expanding our portfolio of innovative solutions for high-performance lithium-ion batteries and as a future system supplier, we will be able to support our customers' competitiveness in the electromobility field,” said Dr. Andreas Kreimeyer, member of the Board of Executive Directors and Research Executive Director of BASF SE. As well as developing materials for lithium-ion batteries, which include solutions for anodes and separators, BASF is also researching future battery concepts such as lithium-sulfur or lithium-air.

“With our research activities we are substantially contributing to making electric cars affordable, environment friendly and sustainable. For this we need batteries and further innovative components that provide a greater driving range with less weight and lower costs,” explained Kreimeyer.

To compensate for the additional battery weight of about 200 kg and allow for an acceptable driving range, the weight of electric vehicles must be reduced through lightweight construction components. This naturally places new demands on the materials, including completely new properties in terms of temperature stability, electromagnetic screening and fire resistance. Although plastics already contribute greatly to vehicular weight savings when incorporated in the chassis, interior and engine compartment, further multifunctional lightweight construction concepts are needed. For example, BASF is working on fast-curing epoxy, polyurethane and polyamide resins for fiber reinforced composites to be used in the manufacture of lightweight vehicle bodies. These materials can provide further weight savings of up to 100 to 150 kilograms in structural components and chassis.

BASF also offers solutions for improving heat management in electric cars. “When the temperatures rise in summer, the car's air conditioner consumes additional energy reducing the vehicles driving range,” explained Kreimeyer. When incorporated in interiors and automotive coatings, pigments that reflect the heat-generating infrared rays of sunlight prevent the temperature from getting too high inside the car. And while the combustion engine provides exhaust heat in winter, an electric vehicle consumes electricity to heat the interior. To keep energy consumption low under these conditions, it is necessary to insulate electrical vehicles against the cold with high performance foams. This also increases the car’s driving range.

Innovations from chemical research and the right energy mix will be key factors in helping electromobility to make its breakthrough – while remaining sustainable. “We take a holistic view of this topic. Electromobility will only significantly contribute to environmental and climate protection when the electricity from the batteries has been generated high efficiently and with less CO2. Therefore we are investing in research to find ways of generating electricity from renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar energy. We are also developing innovative storage technologies because in our latitudes these forms of energy are not available 24/7,” said Kreimeyer.

Policy makers are also called upon to create the appropriate general conditions to ensure that electromobility remains competitive in the global market. This will include government sponsored research and development programs to ensure that Germany retains its technological lead and can take further strides forward in electromobility. The creation of added value and jobs in Germany is another positive outcome.

“If industry together with politics, science and society as a whole all pull in the same direction, electromobility will be successful and become an affordable and sustainable alternative to the classical internal combustion technology,” added Kreimeyer.