Tersis Technologies has filed a US provisional patent application covering a process to convert waste-derived carbon into a graphenic material for potential use in energy storage.
Filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on 23 September 2026, the application covers a process described as “Hook-Morphology Graphenic Carbon from Thermochemical Waste-Derived Carbon, Electrodes and Electrochemical Cells Comprising the Same, and Grid-Scale and Industrial Energy-Storage Systems”.
Pyrolysis and gasification produce energy alongside solid carbon residues such as char and biochar. According to Tersis, these materials are generally used in lower-value applications including soil amendment and filtration, or disposed of.
The patented process under application involves treating the residue with a metal catalyst and controlled electrical pulses to create a hybrid carbon structure comprising a nanotube-like stem with graphene sheets attached along its length. Tersis calls the structure “hook morphology”.
The stem of an electrode is intended to provide a continuous pathway for electrons within an electrode, while the graphene structure is designed to preserve usable surface area during repeated charging and discharging.
The application covers electrodes and electrochemical cells incorporating the material, including supercapacitors and hybrid battery-supercapacitor cells. It also extends to modular storage banks for applications including grid frequency response, industrial peak shaving and on-site backup power.
Tersis plans to evaluate the technology alongside its SynGenic V3 resource-recovery campuses. Its proposed approach would use electricity and carbon feedstock generated by the waste-conversion process to produce the storage material, which could then support site power and, where appropriate, the local grid.
The technology remains at an early development stage, with planned work including electron microscopy, process refinement, material separation and electrode and cell testing.
“Waste conversion has always been judged by the energy it produces, and the carbon left behind has been treated as an afterthought,” said Antonio Uccello, Founder of Tersis Technologies. “That char is carbon we have already paid to produce. This filing protects our approach to giving it a second job in energy storage, with the goal of helping a site steady its own power. There is real laboratory work ahead of us, and we intend to let the test results lead.”
The application names Uccello and Kevin H. Fortin as inventors.
Image: hook morphology graphenic carbon. Credit: Tersis tech.
