Traditional aerospace composites rely on petroleum-based carbon fibers. This research explores carbonizing orange peel waste at extreme temperatures to create bio-graphite. This material, when embedded in bio-resins, creates a high-strength, lightweight composite that meets the rigorous demands of space travel while significantly reducing the mission's initial carbon footprint.
Orange peels are cleaned and dried, then subjected to high-temperature pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere to create high-purity bio-carbon. This carbon is then processed into sheets and impregnated with bio-epoxy resins. The final structure is vacuum-cured to produce aerospace-grade composite panels.
Developed by young innovators, this low-cost material uses the pectin from orange peels and oils from avocado skins to create a cross-linked polymer. This "super-absorbent" material can be buried in soil where it captures rainwater and releases it slowly to plant roots during dry spells, effectively fighting drought while upcycling food waste.
Orange peels are boiled to extract pectin, which is then cross-linked with avocado skin extracts using natural emulsion techniques. The resulting hydrogel is sun-dried into granules that can be easily applied by farmers to the root zones of their crops.
Using a high-powered microwave biorefinery, orange peels are broken down into their chemical constituents in minutes rather than hours. This project extracts d-limonene, bio-oil, and gases simultaneously. The microwave energy specifically targets the water molecules in the peel cells, causing them to burst and release chemicals with high efficiency and low energy consumption.
Raw orange peels are placed in a vacuum microwave reactor. Controlled microwave radiation induces rapid thermal decomposition (Pyrolysis). Volatile oils are condensed into bio-liquids, while the remaining solid biomass is converted into biochar and the released gases are captured as syngas.
