World's First Artificial Leaf Unveiled By MIT Professor

A new source of green energy is put forward by a team of chemistry and engineering scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). They have created an instrument consisting of Silicon, electronics and various catalysts which spur chemical reactions within the device. The amazing fact is, this device uses sunlight to carry out the process. Thus it becomes a green energy source. This source promises an inexpensive source of electricity for homes of the poor in developing countries like India.

The team was led by MIT Chemist Daniel Nocera. The device (which they call the artificial leaf) actually uses sunlight to break water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen and oxygen gases would be stored in a fuel cell, which uses those two materials to produce electricity, located either on top of the house or beside it. They called it artificial leaf because the process which it carries out is exactly same as the process of photosynthesis which is carried out by a real or natural leaf. But In physical appearance it doesn’t look like a leaf.

Daniel Nocera said “A practical artificial leaf has been one of the Holy Grails of science for decades. We believe we have done it. And placed in a gallon of water and left in sun, these artificial leaves could provide a home in the developing world with basic electricity for a day.” He added “Our goal is to make each home its own power station. One can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology.” [Quoted by #-Link-Snipped-#]

For the research purpose scientists used inexpensive and common catalysts including nickel and cobalt that get the job done with far less expense. The artificial leaf prototype consists of playing-card sized leaves. In the lab, scientists were able keep the prototype running for 45 hours continuously without drop in the activity. Scientist said that, they will next try to boost both efficiency and lifespan of their photosynthetic material. At this stage, Nocera’s leaf is 10 times more efficient at carrying out photosynthesis than a natural leaf.

The findings were presented by Chemist Daniel Nocera and team at the 241st National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

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