green energy tagged posts

Producing ‘Green’ Energy – literally – from Living Plant ‘Bio-Solar Cells’

Leaves of a succulent plant. Two pieces of metal marked “anode” and “cathode” are inserted into one leaf and connected to electrical wires.
The ice plant succulent shown here can become a living solar cell and power a circuit using photosynthesis.
Credit: Adapted from ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2022, DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c15123

Though plants can serve as a source of food, oxygen and décor, they’re not often considered to be a good source of electricity. But by collecting electrons naturally transported within plant cells, scientists can generate electricity as part of a “green,” biological solar cell. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have, for the first time, used a succulent plant to create a living “bio-solar cell” that runs on photosynthesis.

In all living cells, from bacteria and fungi to plants and animals, electrons are shuttled around as part of natural, biochemical proces...

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New Faster Charging Hydrogen Fuel Cell developed

Comparison of hydrogen absorption concentration with different designs. Image: Puchanee Larpruenrudee

A new design for solid-state hydrogen storage could significantly reduce charging times. Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have developed a new method to improve solid-state hydrogen fuel cell charging times.

Hydrogen is gaining significant attention as an efficient way to store ‘green energy’ from renewables such as wind and solar. Compressed gas is the most common form of hydrogen storage, however it can also be stored in a liquid or solid state.

Dr Saidul Islam, from the University of Technology Sydney, said solid hydrogen storage, and in particular metal hydride, is attracting interest because it is safer,...

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