Materials

Lignin waste from paper mills and/or biorefineries is added to other biopolymers to create pellitized resin. Once the product reaches its end-of-life, it breaks down into water, compost, and CO2.

MXenes are a new family of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides, carbonitrides and nitrides that were discovered and developed in collaboration with Prof. Barsoum’s group, that can be used in many applications. These applications include lithium-ion and sodium-ion energy storage systems, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, and water purification. MXenes are highly desirable in EMI shielding due to their good flexibility, easy processing, and high conductivity with minimal thickness, having the highest EMI shielding effectiveness of all synthetic materials of similar thickness. MXenes are also promising antibacterial agents, with higher efficiency than graphene oxide in diminishing bacterial cell viability.

Researchers recently "densified" the material to make what they call "super wood," and previous work from the KTH team made wood fibers as strong as steel.

Uses nanofiltration to extract lithium from a complex range of brines that were previously considered un-processable due to complexity or geographical location.

Steel, or other strip-based materials, strips are woven to produce structural elements, which are extremely efficient in terms of material use, and very low energy in regards to fabrication.