First published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, it has been discovered that by using part of the shrimp’s shell (chitin, which is similar to cellulose) vanadium battery electrodes can be produced. These are thought to store a lot of energy and could therefore prevent excess energy going to waste.
Batteries are predominantly made using lithium, which whilst provide a higher density of energy per battery are more expensive to produce. It is believed the shrimp shell design, which utilises materials that would otherwise be wasted, could therefore be perfect for storage of high volumes of renewable energy, such as wind and solar.
