Spinning Plant Waste into Carbon Fiber for Cars, Planes

 

American Chemical Society. “Spinning plant waste into carbon fiber for cars, planes.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 August 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170823090936.htm>.

 

Research Question:
The question this article addresses is how to more effectively use lignin, the waste residue that remains when plants and trees are processed into paper, ethanol, and other goods. Lignin is often burned or shipped to landfills, so scientists wanted to find a way to turn this cheap waste product into high-cost goods, like carbon fiber. The reason for the study was simply to find a better and more effective and efficient way to use lignin.

Experimental Design:
The researchers in this experiment’s main goal was to find the perfect combination of lignin and polyarylonitrile (PAN), which is what is currently used to make carbon fiber (and very expensive), to bring down the production cost without sacrificing strength. In order to find this perfect mix, researchers added lignin to PAN in varying amounts, from 0 to 50 percent. They mixtures were then woven into carbon fibers and evaluated for strength. At the conclusion of the experiment, researchers found that the mixture could be composed of 20 to 30 percent lignin without sacrificing any strength, greatly bringing down the production cost of carbon fiber.