Product breakthrough
Paperboard powers the future Article by Jonas Rehnberg - Photos by Anna-Clara Eriksson
Iggesund provides valuable expertise in the development of environmentally sustainable and costeffective battery technology that supports the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy
T
he transition away from fossil-fuelled transportation and energy production to a society powered by renewable sources relies heavily on further development of battery technology. Traditional batteries based on electrochemical reactions are less sustainable from an environmental point of view and unsuitable for the rapid charging and discharging at high power over long time required by solar and wind farms.
NEW ENERGY SOURCES NEED EFFICIENT STORAGE
«The automotive industry needs to reduce the cost of producing electric cars in order to contribute to a fossil-free society. For electricity production from weather-dependent energy sources, such as solar and wind power, we need to create efficient storage and power buffer conditions”, says Nicklas Blomquist, PhD in Engineering Physics at Mid Sweden University.
COST-EFFECTIVE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE Can something as “simple” as paperboard coated with graphene and immersed in saltwater offer a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable path to a fossil-free society? Yes, according to a pioneering project in which Blomquist and his team partnered up with Iggesund to develop a prototype of a so-called supercapacitor – a power storage device that can be recharged in a second and release a large amount of power. Instead of using chemical reactions like traditional batteries do, capacitors store energy in electrically charged fields Compared to traditional batteries, these supercapacitors cost a fraction to produce and have a much longer lifetime, although much lower energy density. This means their surface needs to be fairly sizeable and the coating of the electrodes – where the energy is stored – must have the right properties.
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PAPERFIRST MAG SPRING 2020
