Researchers from Charles Sturt University (CSU) have found a way to transform discarded human hair strands into graphite, a material with potential applications in battery technology.
The research team, led by Dr Amandeep Singh Pannu, a Research Fellow at the Charles Sturt University Rural Health and Research Institute, and Professor Muhammad J A Shiddiky, has unlocked the potential of human hair as a key ingredient for developing sustainable energy storage solutions and eliminating biowaste.
“There is an ever-rising demand for more energy production and countries are trying to switch to renewable sources,” Singh said.
“However, to make that switch, one needs sustainable ways to store such energy, and hence there is an urgent need to manufacture high-energy density storage materials in a sustainable manner.”
Graphite, a key material used as a negative terminal for lithium-ion battery, is currently produced in a few countries. This concentration causes the material to suffer from supply chain and geopolitical issues, affecting the entire energy storage industry downstream.
Singh believes that producing graphite sustainably from waste on demand, and locally in Australia, will greatly benefit the national energy sector.
As the demand for electric and hybrid vehicles increases, so does the need for lithium-ion batteries.
However, producing graphite for these batteries can be polluting, requiring harsh chemicals, such as hydrofluoric acid (HF).
Singh suggests an eco-friendly, carbon-rich source that is abundant and readily available everywhere – human hair.
“It’s an incredibly clean source right through the entire process with very minimal pollutants or negative outputs,” he said.
Sustainable Salons, an organisation dedicated to diverting salon waste from landfill, has been supplying hair clippings from salons and pet groomers across Australia and New Zealand for Singh’s research since 2020.
“We envision a future where hair transcends its conventional status as waste and emerges as a sustainable resource of immense potential,” Paul Frasca, co-founder of Sustainable Salons said.
“The prospect of harnessing hair to power our electric vehicles demonstrates that a sustainable future is limitless when we embrace the circular economy.”
For more renewable and solar news, subscribe to ecogeneration.