Lignin-Derived Carbon Materials for Energy Storage Applications

Lignin, an abundant aromatic biopolymer recovered from forestry and pulping residues, has emerged as a versatile precursor for sustainable carbon materials in energy storage. Through processes such as pyrolysis, hydrothermal carbonisation and chemical activation, lignin can be transformed into spheres, fibres and aerogels with tailored pore architectures spanning micro-, meso- and macropores. Precise control of parameters—temperature, activation agent and precursor composition—enables the tuning of surface area, electrical conductivity and mechanical integrity. Such materials have shown competitive gravimetric capacitance and volumetric energy density in supercapacitors, with growing interest in heteroatom doping, composite structures and binder-free electrodes. The global drive towards renewable feedstocks and circular economies makes lignin-derived carbons a promising route for scalable, cost-effective and high-performance energy storage solutions.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have demonstrated that enzymatic hydrolysis lignin can be converted into uniform carbon spheres via hydrothermal carbonisation under mild conditions. By varying temperature, reaction time and lignin concentration, researchers achieved highly spherical particles of 3–6 µm diameter. Subsequent fast activation with potassium hydroxide under microwave heating generated a hierarchical microporous network, boosting Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area from approximately 250 to over 1 200 m2 g−1. The resulting material exhibits enhanced ion-adsorption capacity and holds promise as a sustainable electrode for supercapacitors and gas-capture applications.

Lignin-Derived Carbon Materials for Energy Storage Applications publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in lignin-derived carbon materials for energy storage applications across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Lignin: A complex aromatic polymer in plant cell walls, rich in carbon and crosslinking sites, serving as a renewable precursor for carbon materials.

Hydrothermal carbonisation: A low-temperature, high-pressure conversion of biomass into carbonaceous solids in water, often yielding spherical or porous structures.

Carbonisation: Thermal decomposition of organic precursors in inert atmosphere to produce carbon-rich materials, typically at 400–1 000 °C.

Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area: A metric for quantifying total surface area of porous solids by nitrogen adsorption.

Electrospinning: A technique to fabricate ultrafine fibres by applying a high voltage to a polymer solution, forming nonwoven mats.

Volumetric energy density: The amount of energy stored per unit volume of an electrode or device, crucial for space-limited applications.

References

1. Lignin derived carbon materials: current status and future trends. Carbon Research (2022).
2. Fast preparation of carbon spheres from enzymatic hydrolysis lignin: Effects of hydrothermal carbonization conditions. Scientific Reports (2018).
3. High‐Density Lignin‐Derived Carbon Nanofiber Supercapacitors with Enhanced Volumetric Energy Density. Advanced Science (2021).
4. Green Carbon Nanofiber Networks for Advanced Energy Storage. ACS Applied Energy Materials (2020).