Why the hull of almonds could increase by 60% the autonomy of electric cars

Increase the autonomy is one of the big challenges for manufacturers of electric cars. Indeed, a vehicle can travel a greater distance without having to recharge. Currently, they vary between 200 and 300 km (some reach more), depending on the case.

The University of Córdoba (UCO) of Spain has been working there for a few months. The FQM-175 inorganic chemistry research team at this entity discovered that the shell of almonds can become a key for the future of electric mobility.

What this UCO team has achieved is transform the almond shell into a type of microporous activated carbon which has a very good performance in sulfur batteries. They did it through a process of rapid activation and pyrolysis.

From there, the batteries "could increase by 60% the autonomy of a standard electric vehicle equipped with lithium batteries", Spanish researchers insured. And they consider them viable for the automotive market because they have been successfully tested in an hour of fast charging.

At the same time, the FQM-175 proposes the use of materials such as three-dimensional graphene and nonflammable electrolytes for more safety in the batteries of electric cars.

The Spanish province of Cordoba is, by coincidence, a region rich in almonds. It's a local resource that could be used to the development of less harmful batteries for the environment and without prior petroleum compounds.

"We value waste generated in very large quantities in Spain and especially in the province of Córdoba added value for exploitation in high technology sectors"said the principal investigator of the UCO study, Almudena Benítez.