From the Beeb:
Hemp fibres 'better than graphene'
The waste fibres from hemp crops can be transformed into high-performance energy storage devices, scientists say.
They "cooked" cannabis bark into carbon nanosheets and built supercapacitors "on a par with or better than graphene" - the industry gold standard.
Electric cars and power tools could harness this hemp technology, the US researchers say.
They presented their work at the American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco.
"People ask me: why hemp? I say, why not?" said Dr David Mitlin of Clarkson University, New York, who describes his device in the journal ACS Nano.
"We're making graphene-like materials for a thousandth of the price - and we're doing it with waste.
"The hemp we use is perfectly legal to grow. It has no THC in it at all - so there's no overlap with any recreational activities."
Like I said, this will be very interesting if it pans out. The principles started a company - Alta Supercaps - but have closed it down. Their website states:
As part of the transition to a licensing model rather than in-house manufacturing, we are closing "Altasupercaps". Please contact TEC Edmonton for potential licensing opportunities. Also please contact David Mitlin at dmitlin@clarkson.edu for further technical information.
I wish them the best of luck and look forward to using their products soon - this has the capacity to make drones and electric vehicles practical instead of just expensive toys.
