Scalable biochar-sulfur material for sustainable applications

Materials, Chemical engineering

UNMET NEED

Biochar is emerging as a useful product to capture carbon from biomass residues and waste management streams. Produced by the oxygen-free pyrolysis of biomass, it transforms organic waste in a lightweight carbon material with applications in agriculture, energy, water treatment, and advanced materials.

Despite its attractive properties, biochar, in its original form, is a fragile material with mediocre mechanical properties. Issues in storage, transportation and durability severely limits the potential of biochar as a carbon sequestration byproduct for a high value re-valorization economy. Improved mechanical integrity would enable new industrial markets for biochar as a low-carbon alternative such as construction, composite reinforcement.

TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW

The team led by Professor Martel and Dr. Al Akoumy at Université de Montréal has demonstrated a novel method to treat biochar with sulfur enabling the synthesis of a stable and highly durable biochar material.

The resulting biochar exhibits considerably improved mechanical strength and chemical stability reaching in optimized parameters a compressive strength of 382 MPa and a Young’s modulus up to 165 GPa, while retaining a low density of 1.3 g/cm³, highlighting its potential for lightweight structural applications. Aiming for an industrial oriented process, the manufacturing process does not require high temperature, potentially allowing the scale up with production technologies such as extrusion. The novel biochar-sulfur material processing may allow the final part to be shaped into fibers, pellets, sheets or beams using compression molding. The versatile material unlocks new use for biochar as lightweight strong carbon-storing reinforcement for structural and mechanical applications.

The team is engaged in the scale up of the production to test the biochar-sulfur materials in various applications. We are looking for industrial partners to identify the key features to tackle in order to develop and tailor this novel material at industrial scale.

Mechanical properties comparison

Materials	Compressive strength (MPa)	Young’s modulus (GPa)	Density (g/cm3)	Tensile strength (MPa)
Our biochar	20 to 383	6 to 165	1.3 to 1.4	Not tested yet
Steel	170-180	190-210	7-8	350-420
Concrete	15-20	20-40	2.-1	0.9
E-Glass fiber	4000-5000	43-50	2.5	1900 – 2000
Carbon fiber	700 -1000	200 – 600	1.8	1000-4000

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Co-development partnerships for technology maturation
Admissible to research/industry government grants for technological development

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

High strength and ultralight material
Durable and chemically stable
Scalable manufacturing

MARKET APPLICATIONS

Composite material reinforcement

Molded parts in advanced manufacturing

Transport and storage of biochar

IP PROTECTION

US Provisional Patent Application

CONTACTS

Richard Martel

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Department of chemistry,
Université de Montréal

Julien Longchamp

CONTACT
Director of Technology Transfer,
B +1 (514) 360-3079 x 171
julien.longchamp@axelys.ca