Work completed by Dr. Vilas Pol, an associate professor in the School of Chemical Engineering, and his research group has been selected as a finalist in the annual 2016 R&D 100 Awards.

"UpCarbon: Waste Packing Peanuts Derived Economical Carbons for Enhanced Energy Storage and Carbon Capture" was selected by an independent judging panel and the editors of R&D Magazine as a finalist under the Materials (metals, alloys, polymers, plastics, paints, ceramics, composites, adhesives, etc.) category.

An R&D 100 Award recognizes the 100 most technologically significant products introduced in the past year. The winners of the 2016 R&D 100 Awards will be announced at the annual meeting on November 3, 2016, in Washington, D.C.

Postdoctoral researcher Vinodkumar Etacheri, chemical engineering graduate students Arthur Dysart and Jialiang Tang, and Professor Ki Bong Lee and Seok-Min Hong, both of Korea University, also were involved in the research.