Hemp, the controversial plant.

Hemp, commonly referred to as the high growth variants of the Canabis plant and its products. Illegalized in the US for its close relation to the marijuana plant, has often been the focus of many hippy and naturalist movements. While the plant has it’s many uses such as hemp seed foods, hemp oil, wax, resin, rope, cloth, pulp, paper, and bio-fuel; decades have past since it’s illegalization in the US. Hemp contains very little tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the ingredient responsible for making a person “high” when using marijuana; but still was deemed a source of the illegal substance and subsequently banned. Little did they know that hemp could possess the key to the next breakthrough in energy storage.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is reporting that fibers extracted from hemp could pack as much energy and power as graphene! Not only are they claiming a product of hemp contains a higher energy density for storage than graphene, but that it can be manufactured for $500 to $1000 dollars a ton!

A press release dated Aug 12, 2014 states that research on a new energy storage technology, which a Canadian start-up company is working on scaling up, was presented at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The American Chemical Society is the world’s largest scientific society. This meeting in San Francisco featured nearly 12,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics. I’m sure the possibility of a cheap source of a graphene like substance stole several spot lights.

“At the conference, David Mitlin, Ph.D., explained that super capacitors are energy storage devices that have huge potential to transform the way future electronics are powered. Unlike today’s rechargeable batteries, which sip up energy over several hours, super capacitors can charge and discharge within seconds. But they normally can’t store nearly as much energy as batteries, an important property known as energy density. One approach researchers are taking to boost super capacitors’ energy density is to design better electrodes. Mitlin’s team has figured out how to make them from certain hemp fibers — and they can hold as much energy as the current top contender: graphene.”

“Our device’s electrochemical performance is on par with or better than graphene-based devices,” Mitlin says. “The key advantage is that our electrodes are made from bio waste using a simple process, and therefore, are much cheaper than graphene.”

A major draw-back in the use of electric vehicles has been the charge time required to fill the battery (fuel tank) back up to the full mark. While technology has improved the range of electric vehicles; having to wait 8 hours before you can drive 200 to 300 miles again is a huge discouraging factor when looking for your next family vehicle.

According to the ACS, super capacitors utilizing hemp based fibers will have energy densities of 12 Wh/kg, tripling that of their graphene based commercial counterparts and will have energy densities 100 times higher than our current Li-Ion batteries. This is huge! I’m sure Elon Musk’s ears perked up when/if he heard this.

Graphene has several unique and amazing properties that show promise in improving solar cells, water filtration systems, touch screens, and let’s not forget, batteries and super capacitors. The problem with graphene is that it is very expensive to produce as it’s manufactured in very small quantities in laboratory-like conditions.

“Mitlin’s group decided to see if they could make graphene-like carbons from hemp bast fibers. The fibers come from the inner bark of the plant and often are discarded from Canada’s fast-growing industries that use hemp for clothing, construction materials and other products. The U.S. could soon become another supplier of bast. It now allows limited cultivation of hemp, which unlike its close cousin, does not induce highs.”

Scientists have long suspected that there was a value in hemp bast. It’s been known for some time that the fibers in bast closely resemble that of graphene. The only thing was to find a way to extract these fibers. When you hear how easy the process is that was discovered by Miltin’s research team, you’ll be shocked. The restrictions of growth and an overall negative stigma of cannabis based plants has obviously deterred the progress of science in this case.

“His team found that if they heated the fibers for 24 hours at a little over 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and then blasted the resulting material with more intense heat, it would exfoliate into carbon nanosheets.”

The nanosheets are riddled with holes and crumpled in comparison to the very flat nature of graphene sheets. This feature offers more surface area in a smaller package than graphene nanosheets and results in a higher performance.

“We’re past the proof-of-principle stage for the fully functional super capacitor,” he says. “Now we’re gearing up for small-scale manufacturing.”

Sources: ACS

“Mitlin, who conducted the research while at the University of Alberta, acknowledges funding from Alberta Innovates Technology Futures, National Institute for Nanotechnology (Canada) and Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency.”