Waste coffee used as fuel storage

Scientists have developed a simple process to treat waste coffee grounds to allow them to store methane

2015-09-02

(Press-News.org) Scientists have developed a simple process to treat waste coffee grounds to allow them to store methane. The simple soak and heating process develops a carbon capture material with the additional environmental benefits of recycling a waste product. The results are published today, 03 September 2015, in the journal Nanotechnology. Methane capture and storage provides a double environmental return - it removes a harmful greenhouse gas from the atmosphere that can then be used as a fuel that is cleaner than other fossil fuels. The process developed by the researchers, based at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea, involves soaking the waste coffee grounds in sodium hydroxide and heating to 700-900 °C in a furnace. This produced a stable carbon capture material in less than a day - a fraction of the time it takes to produce carbon capture materials. "The big thing is we are decreasing the fabrication time and we are using cheap materials," explains Christian Kemp, an author of the paper now based at Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea. "The waste material is free compared compared to all the metals and expensive organic chemicals needed in other processes - in my opinion this is a far easier way to go." Kemp found inspiration in his cup of coffee whilst discussing an entirely different project with colleagues at UNIST. "We were sitting around drinking coffee and looked at the coffee grounds and thought 'I wonder if we can use this for methane storage?'" he continues. The absorbency of coffee grounds may be the key to successful activation of the material for carbon capture. "It seems when we add the sodium hydroxide to form the activated carbon it absorbs everything," says Kemp. "We were able to take away one step in the normal activation process - the filtering and washing - because the coffee is such a brilliant absorbant." The work also demonstrates hydrogen storage at cryogenic temperatures, and the researchers are now keen to develop hydrogen storage in the activated coffee grounds at less extreme temperatures.

INFORMATION:

Notes to Editors For further information, a full draft of the journal paper or contact with one of the researchers, contact IOP Senior Press Officer, Steve Pritchard: Tel: 0117 930 1032 E-mail: steve.pritchard@iop.org. For more information on how to use the embargoed material above, please refer to our embargo policy. IOP Publishing Journalist Area The IOP Publishing Journalist Area gives journalists access to embargoed press releases, advanced copies of papers, supplementary images and videos. Login details also give free access to IOPscience, IOP Publishing's journal platform. To apply for a free subscription to this service, please email the IOP Publishing Press team at ioppublishing.press@iop.org, with your name, organisation, address and a preferred username. Activated carbon derived from waste coffee grounds for stable methane storage The published version of the paper "Activated carbon derived from waste coffee grounds for stable methane storage" Nanotechnology 26 385602 (doi:10.1088/0957-4484/26/38/385602) will be freely available online from Thursday 2 September.

Nanotechnology Nanotechnology encompasses the understanding of the fundamental physics, chemistry, biology and technology of nanometre-scale objects. IOP Publishing IOP Publishing provides publications through which leading-edge scientific research is distributed worldwide. Beyond our traditional journals programme, we make high-value scientific information easily accessible through an ever-evolving portfolio of books, community websites, magazines, conference proceedings and a multitude of electronic services. IOP Publishing is central to the Institute of Physics, a not-for-profit society. Any financial surplus earned by IOP Publishing goes to support science through the activities of the Institute. Go to ioppublishing.org or follow us @IOPPublishing. Access to Research Access to Research is an initiative through which the UK public can gain free, walk-in access to a wide range of academic articles and research at their local library. This article is freely available through this initiative. For more information, go to http://www.accesstoresearch.org.uk. The Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics is a leading scientific society. We are a charitable organisation with a worldwide membership of more than 50,000, working together to advance physics education, research and application. We engage with policymakers and the general public to develop awareness and understanding of the value of physics and, through IOP Publishing, we are world leaders in professional scientific communications. In September 2013, we launched our first fundraising campaign. Our campaign, Opportunity Physics, offers you the chance to support the work that we do. Visit us at http://www.iop.org or follow us on Twitter @physicsnews

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