Bourbon waste could provide next-gen supercapacitor components (spectrum.ieee.org)

Researchers at the University of Kentucky report proof-of-concept supercapacitor electrodes made by converting wet bourbon distillery “stillage” into carbon materials using hydrothermal carbonization. They say the resulting activated carbon can produce double-layer capacitors with performance comparable to commercial supercapacitors, and that hard-carbon derived from the same waste can enable lithium- or sodium-ion hybrid devices. The team is still working on scaling and a techno-economic assessment to determine whether the approach could become commercially viable for electric vehicles and grid storage.