Upcycling papermaking waste into thermo-galvanic gel for harvesting waste heat and sunlight
- 1College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
- 2College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China; Corresponding authors.
- 3College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China; Key Laboratory of High Performance Fibers & Products, Ministry of Education, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China; Corresponding authors.
Abstract
Efficiently converting low-grade heat (<100 °C) into electricity remains a significant challenge. Moreover, most widely studied thermogalvanic electrolytes rely on redox couples containing toxic metal elements, which poses serious obstacles to developing non-toxic and environmentally sustainable energy conversion technologies. Herein, we present a high-performance thermogalvanic system which employs biobased sulfonated lignin (LS), a major component in paper industry black liquor and ammonium persulfate (APS) as the redox couple. Driven by quinone/hydroquinone redox reactions under a thermal gradient, the liquid electrolyte can convert heat into electricity with a Seebeck coefficient of 2.92 mV/K. Furthermore, the quasi-solid LS-APS-KOH/Poly(vinyl alcohol) (LSAK/PVA) gel prepared from gelation of such electrolyte with PVA further enhances the Seebeck coefficient to 4.3 mV/K, leading to an output power density of 976 µW/(m 2 ·K 2 ). Notably, by exploiting the intrinsic photothermal property of lignin, we demonstrate an integrated photo-thermo-electric conversion system on a unified material platform centered on lignin, opening new avenues for direct solar energy harvesting. This study establishes a novel “waste-to-energy” paradigm by valorizing industrial black liquor for advanced energy applications.
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BibTeX
@article{yan2026upcycling,
title = {{Upcycling papermaking waste into thermo-galvanic gel for harvesting waste heat and sunlight}},
author = {Hanlei Yan and Mengyu Li and Jialin Li and Mengfan Yang and Li Shuai and Zhuotong Wu},
journal = {Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.jobab.2026.100304},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobab.2026.100304},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Upcycling papermaking waste into thermo-galvanic gel for harvesting waste heat and sunlight
AU - Hanlei Yan
AU - Mengyu Li
AU - Jialin Li
AU - Mengfan Yang
AU - Li Shuai
AU - Zhuotong Wu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/25
JO - Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts
DO - 10.1016/j.jobab.2026.100304
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobab.2026.100304
AB - Efficiently converting low-grade heat (<100 °C) into electricity remains a significant challenge. Moreover, most widely studied thermogalvanic electrolytes rely on redox couples containing toxic metal elements, which poses serious obstacles to developing non-toxic and environmentally sustainable energy conversion technologies. Herein, we present a high-performance thermogalvanic system which employs biobased sulfonated lignin (LS), a major component in paper industry black liquor and ammonium persulfate (APS) as the redox couple. Driven by quinone/hydroquinone redox reactions under a thermal gradient, the liquid electrolyte can convert heat into electricity with a Seebeck coefficient of 2.92 mV/K. Furthermore, the quasi-solid LS-APS-KOH/Poly(vinyl alcohol) (LSAK/PVA) gel prepared from gelation of such electrolyte with PVA further enhances the Seebeck coefficient to 4.3 mV/K, leading to an output power density of 976 µW/(m 2 ·K 2 ). Notably, by exploiting the intrinsic photothermal property of lignin, we demonstrate an integrated photo-thermo-electric conversion system on a unified material platform centered on lignin, opening new avenues for direct solar energy harvesting. This study establishes a novel “waste-to-energy” paradigm by valorizing industrial black liquor for advanced energy applications.
SN - 2369-9698
ER -