Wood Waste Carbon Catalysts
KIST's Carbon Catalyst Uses Wood Waste to Create Hydrogen Peroxide
Kanesa D — April 1, 2026
A research team in South Korea has introduced an environmentally sustainable carbon catalyst for the production of hydrogen peroxide—a chemical essential to medical sterilization, semiconductor processing, and water purification.
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that Senior Researcher Lee Young-joon of its RAMP Convergence Research Division, working in collaboration with Professor Yoon Hong-seok of Hanyang University and Professor Kang Joon-hee of Pusan National University, successfully developed the catalyst using lignin, a byproduct derived from wood.
The team engineered the lignin-based material to function as a carbon catalyst capable of selectively generating hydrogen peroxide through an electrochemical process. The system achieved a selectivity exceeding 95%, producing hydrogen peroxide with minimal byproducts. This level of performance positions the technology as a viable alternative to conventional metal catalysts.
