A research team at Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) has attracted attention by announcing that it has developed spent coffee grounds, of which 8 million tons are discarded annually, into a high-performance, eco-friendly thermal insulating composite.

JBNU Professor Seongryun Kim (Department of Organic Materials and Textile Engineering) and his research team announced on the 13th that they developed an eco-friendly, high-performance thermal insulating composite material using spent coffee grounds and published the work in the latest issue of Biochar, a top 1% journal in the field of environmental and soil sciences.

The paper is titled 'Highly porous biochar from spent coffee ground for fuly green thermal insulating composites with thermal conductivity of 0.04 W m−1 K−1'. PhD candidate Seongjin Kim led the research as first author, demonstrating outstanding research capability.

This study was conducted as part of an upcycling strategy to address the problem of more than 8 million tons of spent coffee grounds generated annually. The research team converted the spent coffee grounds into highly porous biochar through controlled carbonization, and based on this achieved excellent thermal insulation performance with a thermal conductivity of approximately 0.04 W m−1 K−1.

In particular, the study has drawn attention in academia for proposing an eco-friendly material platform that can replace conventional petroleum-based chemical insulators. It is also significant in that it simultaneously secures environmental value and economic feasibility in terms of resource circulation and carbon reduction.

Corresponding author Professor Seongryun Kim said, 'I want to applaud Seongjin Kim for his perseverance and dedication over a long period in completing this research,' and added, 'I hope this achievement will lead to even more meaningful research outcomes in composite materials and eco-friendly materials.'

PhD candidate Seongjin Kim said, 'I was able to achieve good results thanks to my advisor's generous support and guidance,' and added, 'I will continue to strive for the development of sustainable eco-friendly materials.'