Sustainable innovation in activated carbon-based temperature controlled surface technologies

Abstract

In this study, an environmentally friendly, sustainable, and low-cost carbon-based thermal paint was developed from activated carbon (AC) obtained from the waste product of coffee beans ground by modern coffee machines. With the developed dye, it is aimed to decrease environmental pollution and to obtain an advanced technology product. The production of AC used in the developed dye was carried out with a microwave oven (MWO) system, which provides faster production in large quantities. The resulting AC was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Raman spectroscopy analysis. AC is combined with natural resin (gum Arabic) and binders (sodium silicate, polyvinyl alcohol) to obtain customized thermal paint recipes. The heat paint was applied to the plasterboard surfaces in five coats with a typical thin paintbrush. The electrically, and thermally conductive paint has a structure that can be easily applied to various surfaces and can produce heat with low-voltage electric current. The paint mixture was monitored with a thermal camera system on 5 × 5 cm², 10 × 5 cm², and 15 × 5 cm² plates at 8/10/12 V voltage for 1 h. The temperature measured by the camera increased from approximately 24° C–35° C when 12 V was applied on a 10 × 5 cm² plasterboard for 1 h. This study presents a novel, low-cost, high-volume, and sustainable method for producing AC-based thermal paint using coffee bean biomass waste, which has not been previously investigated in the literature to the best of our knowledge.