Research Projects

Considering the increasing demand for scalable and sustainable energy storage technologies, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have become extremely promising materials to replace lithium-ion batteries, particularly for grid-scale uses and off-grid rural energy access. However, the business viability of SIBs is hampered by the inefficiency and costliness of electrode materials, especially the anode. Biomass-based porous carbons have been recognized with high potential since they have high surface area, better porosity, abundant availability, and renewability. Among various biomass sources, wood apple shells (Limonia acidissima), a rural and tribal belt agro-waste found in large quantities in rural and tribal regions of India, remain unused despite having high lignocellulosic carbon content and appropriate structure properties. This proposal is to create a sustainable and easy process for the preparation of high-performance carbon materials from wood apple shells by dual chemical activation using H₃PO₄ and KOH. The principal assumption is that the synergistic action of such activation agents will cause a high surface area mesoporous material with an optimal pore size distribution and higher functional groups, which combined between them have the potential to facilitate sodium-ion diffusion and storage performance. The resultant material will be expected to have excellent electrical conductivity, structural stability, and electrochemical activity suitable for SIB anodes. The scientific objectives of the project are to obtain biochar from wood apple shells through controlled pyrolysis, to prepare mesoporous activated carbon through dual activation with optimization of activation parameters, to comprehensively characterize the physical, structural, and electrochemical properties of the material, and to evaluate its electrochemical performance as an electrode in sodium-ion batteries. Critical experimental processes include biomass thermal degradation in inert state, chemical activation using varying H₃PO₄/KOH ratios and temperatures, and material characterization through BET surface area analysis, FESEM/TEM, XRD, Raman, FTIR, and XPS. Electrochemical characterization includes cyclic voltammetry, charge–discharge cycling, rate capability, and impedance measurement in half-cell configuration. The project, in case of success, will provide a low-cost, renewable, and high-performance sodium-ion battery electrode material with potential applications. The work will further develop understanding of the structure-property-performance relationship in dual-activated porous carbons. Besides that, the application of wood apple shell waste is based on the principles of circular bioeconomy and waste-to-wealth programs that offer opportunities for rural entrepreneurship, skill development, and inclusive techno-development.