Publishing date: May 18, 2021 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read •
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(Bloomberg) It’s a potential leap in technology that most scientists remain skeptical about, but which a Japanese paper producer is determined to pursue: using trees to develop a successor to lithium-ion batteries for electric cars.
Nippon Paper Industries Co. is targeting new breakthroughs in the use of cellulose nanofibers materials produced by refining wood pulp to the size of hundredths of a micron or smaller, and currently used in products like diapers or food additives with the aim of creating supercapacitors that could store and release energy with vastly improved performance, and less environmental impact, than existing batteries.