Upcycling papermaking waste into thermo-galvanic gel for harvesting waste heat and sunlight

Hanlei Yan; Mengyu Li; Jialin Li; Mengfan Yang; Li Shuai; Zhuotong Wu

doi:10.1016/j.jobab.2026.100304

Volume 11 Issue 5

Oct. 2026

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Hanlei Yan, Mengyu Li, Jialin Li, Mengfan Yang, Li Shuai, Zhuotong Wu. Upcycling papermaking waste into thermo-galvanic gel for harvesting waste heat and sunlight[J]. Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, 2026, 11(5): 100304. doi: 10.1016/j.jobab.2026.100304

Citation:

Hanlei Yan, Mengyu Li, Jialin Li, Mengfan Yang, Li Shuai, Zhuotong Wu. Upcycling papermaking waste into thermo-galvanic gel for harvesting waste heat and sunlight[J]. Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, 2026, 11(5): 100304. doi: 10.1016/j.jobab.2026.100304

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Upcycling papermaking waste into thermo-galvanic gel for harvesting waste heat and sunlight

doi: 10.1016/j.jobab.2026.100304

Hanlei Yan^a,
Mengyu Li^a,
Jialin Li^a,
Mengfan Yang^a,
Li Shuai^{a
,
,},
Zhuotong Wu^{a,b
,
,}

a College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China;
b Key Laboratory of High Performance Fibers & Products, Ministry of Education, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China

Funds:

No. 32425039) and Fujian Provincial Natural Science Foundation Young Scholars Program (No. 2024J08040).

This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32401526

Received Date: 2026-04-17
Accepted Date: 2026-09-03
Rev Recd Date: 2026-08-29

Available Online: 2026-11-03

Publish Date: 2026-09-30

Abstract

Abstract

Efficiently converting low-grade heat (<100 ℃) into electricity remains a significant challenge. Moreover, most widely studied thermogalvanic electrolytes rely on redox couples containing toxic metal elements, which poses serious obstacles to developing non-toxic and environmentally sustainable energy conversion technologies. Herein, we present a high-performance thermogalvanic system which employs biobased sulfonated lignin (LS), a major component in paper industry black liquor and ammonium persulfate (APS) as the redox couple. Driven by quinone/hydroquinone redox reactions under a thermal gradient, the liquid electrolyte can convert heat into electricity with a Seebeck coefficient of 2.92 mV/K. Furthermore, the quasi-solid LS-APS-KOH/Poly(vinyl alcohol) (LSAK/PVA) gel prepared from gelation of such electrolyte with PVA further enhances the Seebeck coefficient to 4.3 mV/K, leading to an output power density of 976 μW/(m²·K²). Notably, by exploiting the intrinsic photothermal property of lignin, we demonstrate an integrated photo-thermo-electric conversion system on a unified material platform centered on lignin, opening new avenues for direct solar energy harvesting. This study establishes a novel “waste-to-energy” paradigm by valorizing industrial black liquor for advanced energy applications.
- Papermaking waste,
- Lignin,
- Thermo-galvanic gel,
- Harvesting waste heat,
- Photo-thermo-electric conversion

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References(41)

References

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