ENDOCARP BIOMASS IS AN ABUNDANT YET UNDERUTILIZED LIGNIN RICH FEEDSTOCK FROM EXISTING AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES. BASED ON THE YEAR 2015 USDA FRUIT AND TREE NUTS YEARBOOK, THE ESTIMATED OVERALL ANNUAL YIELD OF ENDOCARP BIOMASS FROM U.S. PROCESSING PLANTS REACHED NEARLY 1 MILLION DRY TONS. THE DRUPE ENDOCARP (SUCH AS PEACH STONE OR WALNUT SHELL) HAS THE HIGHEST LIGNIN CONTENT (UP TO 50 WT.%) OF ANY BIOMASS SOURCE AND IS WELL SUITED TO BIOFUELS AND MATERIAL PRODUCTION DUE TO ITS HIGH BULK/ENERGY DENSITY, LOW ASH CONTENT AND HIGH AVAILABILITY IN CURRENT FRUIT AND NUT PROCESSING INDUSTRY SETTINGS.MEANWHILE, THE SEARCH FOR HIGH ENERGY DENSITY, LOW-COST, AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LIBS HAS INTENSIFIED BECAUSE OF LIBS' GROWING APPLICATIONS IN PORTABLE ELECTRONICS, ELECTRIC AND HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES, AND LARGE SCALE STATIONARY ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS IN RECENT YEARS. THE GLOBAL MARKET FOR CHEMICALS AND MATERIALS REQUIRED FOR LITHIUM ION BATTERIES (LIBS) USED IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES (EVS) GENERATED A REVENUE OF $381.9 MILLION IN 2013 AND IS EXPECTED TO REACH $7.60 BILLION IN 2020.USE OF LIGNIN AS BINDER AND COMPOSITE MATERIAL WITH SILICON (SI) COULD FULLY OR PARTIALLY REPLACE THE EXPENSIVE SOLVENT AND BINDER IN TODAY'S LIB MANUFACTURING PROCESS. LIGNIN-SI COMPOSITE ELECTRODE MATERIAL REPRESENTS A HIGH-VALUE COPRODUCT FROM LIGNIN WITH TREMENDOUS MARKET POTENTIAL THAT COULD IMPACT AN INDUSTRY OF A SIZE OF $3.1B PER YEAR IN VALUE.THIS PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON DEVELOPING AND OPTIMIZNG OF A COPRODUCTION STRATEGY FOR BIOFUELS BY MAKING NOVEL LIGNIN-SILICON COMPOSITE ELECTRODES FOR THE NEXT GENERATION LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES. THE LIGNIN-SI ELECTRODE MATERIAL COPRODUCT STRATEGY, IF SUCCESSFUL, IS BENEFICIAL BECAUSE 1) IT LEADS TO IMPROVED LIB ELECTROCHEMICAL PERFORMANCE AT REDUCED COST; 2) VALORIZATION OF LIGNIN TO A HIGH-VALUE PRODUCT ENABLES LOW-COST LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOFUELS. MORE SPECIFICALLY, THIS PROJECT WILL: 1) DEFINE AND CHARACTERIZE LIGNIN IN DRUPE ENDOCARP TISSUES IN SPATIALLY DIVERSE REGIONS AND IN DIFFERENT GENOTYPES OF TARGET CROPS (E.G., PEACH AND WALNUT), 2) DEVELOP NOVEL FRACTIONATION PROCESSES TO EXTRACT LIGNIN AND CELLULOSE PORTIONS FROM ENDOCARP BIOMASS, 3) DEVELOP NOVEL LIGNIN-SILICON COMPOSITE ELECTRODES WITH ENHANCED ELECTROCHEMICAL AND MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE AND DURABILITY, AND 4) CONDUCT PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE FEEDSTOCK LOGISTICS AND ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF THE PROPOSED COPRODUCTION PATHWAYS. DEVELOPING RENEWABLE BATTERY ELECTRODE MATERIALS IS WELL SUITED TO THE FAST-GROWING ENERGY STORAGE MARKET DEMAND. THE COMBINATION OF POTENTIAL SUPERIOR FEATURES OF THE NOVEL LIGNIN-SILICON ELECTRODE MATERIAL AND EFFICIENT LIGNIN FRACTIONATION TECHNOLOGY TAILORED FOR HIGH-LIGNIN CONTENT ENDOCARP FEEDSTOCKS WILL GREATLY IMPROVE THE ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF REGIONAL BIOENERGY SYSTEMS AND GENERATE EXTRA REVENUE FOR U.S. FRUIT/NUT GROWERS AND PROCESSORS.