Tamarind shells processed into nanosheets for supercaps

Bulky tamarind shells are discarded during food production and take up a considerable amount of space in landfills. Now, a team of international scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has found a way to convert the waste material into carbon nanosheets, which are a key component of supercapacitors.

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The team, which includes researchers from the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, and Alagappa University in India, believes that these nanosheets, when scaled up, could be an eco-friendly alternative to their industrially produced counterparts whilst simultaneously cutting waste. The team’s findings have been published in Chemosphere.

In a statement, study leader Dr Cuong Dang, from NTU’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, said: “Through a series of analysis, we found that the performance of our tamarind shell-derived nanosheets was comparable to their industrially made counterparts in terms of porous structure and electrochemical properties. The process to make the nanosheets is also the standard method to produce active carbon nanosheets.”