The discovery was made by Dr Vilas Pol and at Purdue University . Packing peanuts are the small foam pieces used in packaging . They can be found everywhere, but they're usually smaller than a pea or less dense than air. These blocks were flattened to make microsheets and nanoparticles . Such sheets and particles can then be added as anodes in lithium batteries .
The discovery was made by Dr Vilas Pol and at Purdue University . Packing peanuts are the small foam pieces used in packaging . Dr Pol 's team baked the peanuts at 600°C ( 1,100°F ) to create carbon blocks . These blocks were flattened to make microsheets and nanoparticles . Such sheets and particles can then be added as anodes in lithium batteries .