Scientists from Skoltech and Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov were able to create carbon material from hogweed for
Hogweed Sosnovsky – it's famousa weed that can cause burns to humans. Experts from Skoltech believe that by the middle of the 21st century this plant could grow throughout the European part of Russia.
Sodium-ion batteries are another(lithium-free) way to store energy. The cost of lithium is steadily growing, and it is mined only in certain countries. In addition, the production of lithium is quite harmful to the environment. With sodium, there are no such problems.
However, in order to switch to more environmentally friendlybatteries will need to be replaced in her cathode and anode materials. A team of scientists from Moscow State University and Skoltech was able to obtain an anode material (and a high-quality material) from hogweed.
Experts were able to make solidcarbon. Its efficiency was 87%. In terms of specific capacity, it is, however, inferior to others (260 mAh / g versus 300 mAh / g), but in general it can be called competitive.
The results of this study were published in the scientific journal Batteries.