Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2022 - 42

Power & Energy
Ecological Power Storage Battery Made of Vanillin
Vanillin is converted into a redox-active electrolyte material for liquid batteries.
Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
R
edox-flow batteries were made more
environmentally friendly by replacing
their core element, the liquid electrolyte
- which is mostly made up of
ecologically harmful heavy metals or
rare earths - with vanillin, a commonly
used flavor compound obtained from
lignin. Lignin is potentially suitable as
a starting material for the production
of electrolytes.
Researchers refined lignin into vanillin
to use as a redox-active material using
mild and green chemistry without the
use of toxic and expensive metal catalysts.
The process works at room temperature
and can be implemented with
common household chemicals. Vanillin
is also available in large quantities -
even from supermarkets.
The separation and refining process
is highly scalable and suitable for continuous
production. The researchers'
plant can be paired with a pulp mill to
isolate the vanillin from the lignin that
is left over as waste. Whatever is not
needed can subsequently flow back into
the regular cycle and be used energetically
as usual.
Redox flow technology is an important
piece of the puzzle for the expansion
of renewable energies such as wind
and solar power, as it is characterized by
the storage of large amounts of energy
Tests with a 3 KW prototype and with vanillin-based electrolytes proved the effectiveness of the
new process. (Image: Lunghammer/TU Graz)
and can therefore cushion voltage
peaks in the power grid. The batteries
are also suitable as backup storage for
stationary applications such as power
plants, hospitals, mobile phone systems,
or e-fueling stations. Redox flow batteries
are more easily scalable, less toxic,
more recyclable, and more fireproof
than lithium-ion batteries. Other major
advantages are their high life expectancy
and low self-discharge.
For more information, contact Assoc.
Prof. Dr. Stefan Spirk at stefan.spirk@
tugraz.at; +43 316 873 30763.
Method Helps Create Fuels from Plants
A cheaper, more efficient method conducts a chemical reaction at the heart of many biological
processes, leading to better ways to create biofuels from plants.
The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
S
42
cientists have been trying for years to
create biofuels and other bioproducts
more cheaply; for example, the process of
converting sugar to alcohol has to be very
efficient in order to make the end product
competitive with fossil fuels. The process
of how to do that is well-established
but the cost is prohibitive.
A less expensive and simpler method
was developed to create the " helper molecules "
that allow carbon in cells to be
turned into energy. Those helper molecules
(cofactors) are nicotinamide adenine
dinucleotide (NADH) and its derivative
(NADPH). These cofactors in their
reduced forms have long been known to
be a key part of turning sugar from
plants into butanol or ethanol for fuels.
Both cofactors also play an important
role in slowing the metabolism of cancer
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cells and have been a target of treatment
for some cancers.
NADH and NADPH, however, are expensive.
Butanol is often not used as an
additive because it's expensive, but if it
could be made less expensively, suddenly
the calculus would change.
To create these reduced cofactors in the
lab, the researchers built an electrode by
layering nickel and copper - two inexpenTech
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Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2022

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