{"id":210948,"date":"2025-04-09T09:05:53","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T14:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/scientists-unveil-macgyver-like-energy-breakthrough-with-unexpected-materials-materials-have-garnered-considerable-attention"},"modified":"2025-04-09T09:05:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T14:05:53","slug":"scientists-unveil-macgyver-like-energy-breakthrough-with-unexpected-materials-materials-have-garnered-considerable-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/scientists-unveil-macgyver-like-energy-breakthrough-with-unexpected-materials-materials-have-garnered-considerable-attention","title":{"rendered":"Scientists unveil MacGyver-like energy breakthrough with unexpected materials: \u2018Materials \u2026 have garnered considerable attention\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"display: block; margin: 0 auto; width: 100%; aspect-ratio: 4\/3; object-fit: contain;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/x2QEiMHl1NY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope;\n   picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In answer, the team needed to develop an affordable catalyst that could improve the salty electrode. For reference, when batteries operate, ions move between the anode and cathode through the electrolyte, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/science\/doe-explainsbatteries\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\" data-rapid_p=\"32\">per<\/a> a U.S. Department of Energy description.<\/p>\n<p>This is where wood waste and urine enter the lab, replacing platinum as a catalyst. The UNIST creation facilitates effective electrochemical reactions and quick discharges. The experts used lignin, abundant in wood and used to make paper and biofuels, in combination with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acs.org\/molecule-of-the-week\/archive\/u\/urea.html#:~:text=Urea%2C%20also%20known%20as%20carbamide, found%20abundantly%20in%20mammalian%20urine.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\" data-rapid_p=\"33\">urea<\/a>. Urea is a nitrogen-rich substance found in wastewater, UNIST <a href=\"https:\/\/news.unist.ac.kr\/boosting-seawater-battery-performance-with-wood-waste-derived-catalysts\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\" data-rapid_p=\"34\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConventional electrocatalysts, primarily noble metals, are scarce and expensive. In this context, carbon materials derived from biowaste have garnered considerable attention,\u201d according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S1385894725000178\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\" data-rapid_p=\"35\">abstract<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In answer, the team needed to develop an affordable catalyst that could improve the salty electrode. For reference, when batteries operate, ions move between the anode and cathode through the electrolyte, per a U.S. Department of Energy description. This is where wood waste and urine enter the lab, replacing platinum as a catalyst. The UNIST [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":511,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,1497,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chemistry","category-energy","category-sustainability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/511"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210948\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}