Pyrolyze this paper: Can biomass become a source for precise carbon electrodes?

To advance science and technology, we must stand on the shoulders of others; they do not have to be giants, but they must be steady. Carbon electrodes made by dry pyrolysis of biomass are ubiquitous thanks to the enormous abundance and variety of biomass. However, making precise and reproducible carbons from highly varied precursors is challenging. One approach is to erase differences by intense etching or heating. Other strategies harness the richness of biomass by investigating biomass–carbon–electrochemistry correlations systematically and by developing chemical and thermal treatments for gentle homogenization. Comparing ∼120 articles on ∼80 biomass sources demonstrates that full reporting of the biomass origin, organ, age, and other parameters is essential for further development of precise and reproducible carbon electrode materials.