Researchers at RMIT University have converted eucalyptus bark — a forestry by-product routinely discarded as low-value waste — into a highly porous carbon designed for carbon capture and the trapping of pollutants from both air and water, opening a cheaper route to environmental cleanup. That is according to a study led by RMIT PhD researcher Pallavi Saini, published in the journal Biomass and Bioenergy, which outlines how a single activation step converts bark into a functional material.
Built on a one-step activation process rather than the multi-stage methods common across industry, the technique converts a forestry residue into the microscopic pore structure that filtration and purification systems rely on to trap unwanted molecules as air or water passes through. The researchers describe the result as a circular-economy use for biomass that the sector has largely ignored.
Saini said the bark’s performance in adsorption testing was unexpected, given how routinely the material is written off on the mill floor. “Overlooked biomass can be transformed into something useful,” she said.
Because eucalyptus bark is abundant and renewable across the Australian landscape, RMIT researcher Deshetti Jampaiah said it suited local production without the complex processing required by other feedstocks. “This makes it highly relevant for real-world environmental applications,” Jampaiah said.
With more than 900 eucalypt species growing across the country, the team says future work could draw on Indigenous knowledge holders to identify which are best suited to advanced environmental materials. That breadth gives Australian developers a deep, largely untapped feedstock to screen.
Distinguished Professor Suresh Bhargava, who leads the RMIT laboratory behind the work, said the bark demonstrated how discarded materials could help address pollution and carbon emissions simultaneously. The published study points to carbon dioxide capture, water purification, air filtration and industrial gas treatment as candidate uses, with the carbon “support[ing] cleaner water, cleaner air and carbon capture,” Bhargava said.
Whilst the early results are promising, the team cautions that durability testing and scale-up remain to be completed before the carbon can be deployed in working systems, leaving commercial carbon capture some way off. For now, the work adds to a fast-growing body of global research into biomass-derived carbons, particularly in timber-producing countries where bark and other residues pile up unused.
For more information: Saini, P., Sharma, S., Periasamy, S., Jampaiah, D., & Bhargava, S. K. (2026). Sustainable valorisation of eucalyptus bark waste into microporous carbon materials for efficient CO₂ capture. Biomass and Bioenergy, 212, Article 109242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2026.109242
