- Designer Carbons Are Getting a Boost from Nanotechnology
Manufactured materials could lead to breakthroughs in batteries, supercapacitors, and eventually carbon-capture systems.
Typically made from coconut shells or wood chips, activated carbon has a variety of uses, from refrigerator deodorizers to water filters to batteries. Its primary characteristic is its Swiss-cheese-like structure: it’s riddled with tiny holes or pores that increase the material’s surface area, enhancing its ability to catalyze chemical reactions and store electrical charges. But activated carbon has significant drawbacks: the pores are randomly sized and unconnected, and it tends to have high levels of impurities.
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