Sunflower husks as raw material for batteries

Agricultural waste streams usually end up in compost, animal feed, or energy production. Researchers at the University of the Basque Country have now described a different application. They produced anode material for sodium-ion batteries from sunflower husks, a waste stream that normally has little economic value. In trials with small button cell batteries, these cells continued to function for up to 1.000 charge and discharge cycles. The study fits into…