Biomass-Derived Carbon Anode Patents: Leaders & White Space 2026
- A small, thin field. just 13 patent families sit inside the search string, with filings peaking at 5 in 2020 and flat-to-declining since — this is not yet a crowded claim space.
- China leads filing location, narrowly. China accounts for 6 of the tracked filings, with the UK and India each at 3 and a single PCT filing — the applicant base is more international than the raw count suggests.
- Citations concentrate on one outlier record. WO2021130501A1 carries 40 citations, more than 3x the next most-cited family, and it sits on a carbon-quantum-dot synthesis route rather than a conventional anode composite.
Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 13 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this dataset covers
This landscape tracks patent families that combine biomass-derived carbon precursors — coconut shell carbon and bio-based hard carbon among them — with process claims around pyrolysis temperature, yield, ash removal and specific capacity, filtered to IPC classes covering inorganic carbon materials and battery cells. The search string is deliberately narrow: it asks not just for biomass carbon, but for biomass carbon claimed together with the process variables that determine whether it performs as an anode material.
The result is a small corpus of 13 families, published between 2015 and mid-2026, weighted toward inorganic-materials classification (C01B) more than battery-specific classification (H01M). That split matters for strategy: it suggests much of the disclosed value in this space still sits in precursor chemistry and carbonisation process, not in cell-level integration claims.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 13-family dataset: when filings happened, and which classification codes they carry.
A flat-to-declining filing curve
Filings were zero in 2017, rose to a peak of 5 in 2020, sat at 3 by the 2022 midpoint, and show no filings in the 2026 partial year. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent one to two years are understated in any such curve — but even allowing for that lag, this field has not shown sustained acceleration since its 2020 peak.
Inorganic materials outweigh battery-specific claims
C01B (non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds) appears in 11 of 13 records, ahead of H01M (batteries, cells and fuel cells) at 7. Smaller counts scatter into C09K (materials for misc. applications), and single records touch agricultural and pharmaceutical classes (A01C, A01N, A01P, A61K) plus foundry moulding (B22C) — a sign that some biomass-carbon synthesis routes in this corpus were developed for uses well outside batteries and later found their way into anode-adjacent claims.
Shares are the percentage of the 13 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Biomass-Derived Carbon for Battery Anodes with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about biomass-derived carbon for battery anodes and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited record sets the reference point
Biomass derived carbon quantum dots synthesized via a continuous hydrothermal flow process (WO2021130501A1)
The invention discloses a continuous hydrothermal flow process comprising the synthesis of carbon rich, optionally doped, carbon quantum dots, typically of particle size less than 10nm, starting from a carbon precursor and optionally a doping precursor. The invention discloses corresponding carbon quantum dots which have excitation independent and/or excitation dependent luminescence. The invention also discloses a method of detecting Cr(VI), a sensor, a method of oil extraction and a composition for extracting oil.Filed by Kellici, Suela; published 2021-07-01. With 40 citations, it is the most-cited record in this corpus by a wide margin.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WO2021130501A1 | Biomass derived carbon quantum dots synthesized via a continuous hydrothermal flow process | 40 |
| 2 | CN114524428A | 一种水溶性生物质衍生碳点及其制备方法与应用 | 13 |
| 3 | CN115763720A | 一种生物质衍生碳复合过渡金属硫属化物固溶体的电极材料 | 5 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older records; treat them as a signal of influence on the field's prior art, not of current commercial relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Publication numbers are shown where the record carries one (3 of 3 rows); clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the numbers say about this field
Read alongside the filing trend and classification split, three patterns stand out for anyone assessing freedom-to-operate or filing strategy here.
A thin corpus, not a crowded one
With only 13 patent families across more than a decade of coverage, biomass-derived carbon for battery anodes remains a niche claim space compared to mainstream hard-carbon or graphite anode filing. Low density lowers the risk of blocking prior art but also means fewer proof points on manufacturability at scale.
Filing location is more distributed than assignee nationality alone would suggest
China is the largest single receiving office, but the UK and India each carry a meaningful share, and one filing went through the WIPO PCT route, signalling at least one applicant is pursuing multi-jurisdiction protection.
Influence sits on a synthesis method, not a cell design
The most-cited family, WO2021130501A1, claims a continuous hydrothermal flow process for carbon quantum dots with applications well beyond batteries. The next most-cited record sits at 13 citations, and the third at 5 — a steep drop-off that concentrates prior-art risk on one route rather than spreading it evenly.
Precursor and process chemistry dominates over cell integration
Battery-specific classification (H01M) appears in just over half the corpus, while inorganic materials classification (C01B) appears in nearly all of it. Claim value in this field is currently concentrated upstream, in how the carbon is made, rather than downstream, in how it is built into a cell.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to biomass-derived carbon for battery anodes, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and how active are they now
The assignee base is small and fragmented, with recent-year activity flat or declining across every tracked name rather than concentrated in one accelerating leader.
No assignee shows current-year growth
Every organisation with recent-year momentum data recorded zero filings in the latest year, with several showing a -100% year-on-year change from a prior single filing. This is consistent with the corpus-wide flat-to-declining trend rather than any one company pulling back.
Co-filing is rare and academic
Only two co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, both linking individual named inventors rather than corporate joint ventures. This points to a field still driven by academic or early-stage research groups rather than established industrial partnerships.
University and regional-enterprise filers outnumber battery majors
Named assignees include Chinese universities and regional new-energy technology firms alongside individual inventors filing through the UK and India routes. No global battery-materials incumbent shows a concentrated filing position in this specific search string.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| South Bank University Enterprises Ltd | 0 | — |
| Yangtze Normal University | 0 | — |
| Zhejiang Jinying Wali New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Jiangxi Jinboda New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Jiangsu Normal University | 0 | — |
| Wuhan Tiannuo Technology Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Sichuan University | 0 | — |
| VARGHESE ANITHA | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
This landscape flags where filing has concentrated and where it has not. Turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means going deeper on specific claims and specific assignees.
Run a full freedom-to-operate check on your process route
If your process touches pyrolysis temperature control, ash removal or a specific biomass precursor, check the granted claims of the most-cited families before finalising process parameters.
Explore this in Patsnap EurekaTrack the flat filing trend for a future inflection point
A field at a multi-year low can turn quickly once a commercial anode supplier moves in. Set up ongoing monitoring rather than treating this as a one-time landscape.
Set up monitoring in Patsnap EurekaMap the white space into a first-filing strategy
The under-claimed branches identified here are starting points, not guarantees of novelty. Validate against the full global corpus before drafting claims.
Validate white space in Patsnap EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
Within the specific search parameters used for this landscape — biomass-derived carbon or coconut shell carbon or bio-based hard carbon, combined with process terms like pyrolysis temperature, yield, ash removal or specific capacity, and filtered to relevant IPC classes — there are 13 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026. This is a narrow, technically-defined slice; a broader search on biomass carbon materials generally would return a larger number, but much of that would fall outside the battery-anode process claims this landscape targets. Treat 13 as the count for this precise technical intersection, not for biomass carbon materials as a whole.
The trend is flat to declining. Filings peaked at 5 in 2020, dropped to 3 by the 2022 midpoint, and show no recorded filings in the 2026 partial year. Because patent publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, recent years are always understated in a trend like this, but even accounting for that lag there is no clear acceleration visible since the 2020 peak.
China leads by receiving office, with 6 of the tracked filings, ahead of the United Kingdom and India, each with 3, and a single filing routed through the WIPO PCT system for multi-jurisdiction coverage. That said, with only 13 families total, this is a lead of a few filings rather than a dominant concentration, and the applicant base filing into China is not necessarily Chinese-headquartered.
The most-cited record, WO2021130501A1, covers a continuous hydrothermal flow process for synthesising carbon quantum dots from a biomass carbon precursor, with particle sizes typically under 10 nanometres and both excitation-independent and excitation-dependent luminescence properties. Its disclosed applications extend beyond batteries into chromium detection sensors and oil-extraction methods. Its high citation count, at 40, reflects its role as broad prior art for biomass-carbon-quantum-dot synthesis generally, not a battery-specific commercial claim, so its relevance to a given anode design depends on whether that design overlaps with the specific synthesis process claimed.
The classification split points to a gap in cell-level integration: C01B (inorganic materials and process chemistry) appears in 11 of 13 records, while H01M (battery-specific claims) appears in only 7, suggesting most disclosed innovation sits upstream in precursor and carbonisation process rather than downstream in electrode or cell design. Specific under-claimed branches include ash-removal pretreatment methods for coconut-shell precursors, pyrolysis temperature control tied directly to yield optimisation, and composite claims pairing biomass-derived carbon with transition-metal chalcogenide electrode materials. Any of these would need validation against the broader global corpus beyond this narrow search string before being treated as genuinely open.
Research Biomass-Derived Carbon for Battery Anodes in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole biomass-derived carbon for battery anodes corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.