The rapid expansion of electric vehicles and renewable energy storage is increasing demand for battery materials that are reliable, affordable and less resource-intensive. Conventional carbon materials, particularly graphite, remain important to battery manufacturing, but their production and supply chains raise economic and environmental concerns. Biomass-derived carbon offers a possible alternative by turning agricultural and forestry residues into functional electrode materials.
A review published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts examines how biomass can be converted into carbon materials with properties suited to different rechargeable battery systems. The authors discuss established methods such as pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization, alongside plasma-assisted pyrolysis, gasification, molten-salt carbonization and electrochemical approaches. Processing conditions influence the resulting carbon’s pore structure, degree of graphitization, surface chemistry and heteroatom content, all of which affect charge storage and transport.
The review summarizes encouraging results reported across several battery chemistries. Biomass-derived carbon anodes for lithium-ion batteries have achieved specific capacities of up to approximately 700 mAh/g in cited studies. Reported lithium-sulfur cathodes have exceeded 1,500 mAh/g in initial discharge capacity, while hard-carbon anodes for sodium-ion batteries have delivered more than 300 mAh/g. These figures represent selected results from the literature, rather than performance demonstrated in a single experiment.
The authors also look beyond electrochemical metrics. Techno-economic assessments and life-cycle studies suggest that some biomass-derived carbon routes could reduce production costs and greenhouse-gas emissions compared with conventional alternatives. Hard-carbon production for sodium-ion batteries appears among the more mature pathways, with some processes progressing toward pilot-scale or early industrial implementation.
However, wider adoption is not guaranteed. Differences in biomass composition can lead to inconsistent material properties, and some electrodes still face challenges such as low initial coulombic efficiency. The review identifies better control of feedstocks, scalable processing and closer integration of performance, economic and environmental assessments as priorities for future development. Its central message is that biomass-derived carbon may contribute to more sustainable batteries, but practical success will depend on reproducible manufacturing as well as promising laboratory results.
See the article:
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobab.2026.100307
Original Source URL
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2369969826000794
Journal
Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts
Literature review
Not applicable
Biomass-Derived Carbon Bioproducts for Rechargeable Batteries: Conversion Strategies, Functional Properties, and Scalability
10-Oct-2026