In California, developed a new type of organic battery
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Specialists from Southern California University have developed an organic battery. According to scientists, their development is more durable and is made from cheap organic materials. The organic battery, unlike usually, does not contain toxic compounds and metal and is suitable for power plants. The new development will make the energy of the network more stable and will allow creating accumulation of energy in huge volumes and in consequence to use.
Professor of Southern California University Shri Narayan noted that an organic battery can maintain efficiency up to five thousand cycles of recharging, according to preliminary forecasts, its service life will be approximately fifteen years.
At current lithium-ion batteries somewhere in a thousand cycles of recharging, the performance is significantly deteriorating, in addition, the cost of manufacturing such batteries is ten times higher. As the research team notes, organic batteries will make a breakthrough in the field of energy storage due to their simplicity, low cost, reliability and environmental friendliness. In addition, organic batteries can start a new phase of using alternative energy sources in order to satisfy the energy needs of the population to the maximum.
Solar panels produce energy only when the sun shines, as well as all wind turbines - only with gusts of wind. Proceeding from this, energy companies are not profitable to produce environmentally friendly energy, since it is impossible to rely on sources such as sun or wind to meet consumer demand.
Batteries that are able to accumulate and store energy, and subsequently give it away, will help solve the basic problem of unreliability associated with alternative sources.
Now the storage of energy on a particularly large scale is the main problem. According to experts, renewable energy sources in the future will need inexpensive and environmentally friendly solutions.
The mechanism of action of the new organic battery is based on an oxidative and restorative reaction. Through a container separated by a membrane with electrodes, solutions are supplied, which in the process leads to the release of energy.
Such a solution has the advantage, since the power of the source does not depend on the capacitance. Theoretically, containers with electroactive materials can be of any size and increase the total volume of the energy storage. In addition, it is possible to adjust the central cell and adjust the amount of energy produced per hour.
The research team focused on electroactive materials, not on metal and toxic substances, which were used in previous models. The scientists were faced with the task of finding an organic compound capable of dissolving in water. As a result, a system was developed that creates a low impact on the external environment and, moreover, does not require large investments.
In numerous experiments, a team of specialists found that oxidized organic compounds - quinones that exist in the tissues of some animals, bacteria, fungi and are necessary for photosynthesis and oxygen exchange - are ideal for the operation of an organic battery.
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