The project ran between November 2022 and June 2023.
The purpose of the project is to enable increased added value of the pulp industry’s residual streams and to develop bio-based materials for high-value electrochemical applications, e.g. batteries. The goal is to show that melanin produced by residual products from the pulp industry can be used in electrochemical cells, as electrodes in electrochemical energy storage. Three different waste streams have been evaluated whether they can be used for the cultivation of E.coli which has then been used to produce melanin. All tested residual streams can be used to grow the bacteria. The melanin from the cultivation shows a certain redox activity but needs to be further purified from biological material to function in an electrode application. The project has shown movement in TRL from 2 to 3 regarding the electrochemical application, we have measured the electrochemical properties of the melanin on a lab scale. Although the electrochemical properties are too weak to be used in a practical application at the present time, the results are promising enough for it to be interesting to work further with purification of the melanin from biological material to improve conductivity.
Participants
Ragn-Sells, Rottneros Bruk, Ligna Energy, RISE Processum and RISE AB.
Budget
The project’s total budget was 819 000 SEK.