Researchers have solved a major solar energy challenge and turned wood into a complete solar energy system that continues to work after the sun has gone down.
While solar panel technology has come a long way, there is one aspect of it that's tough to beat: When the sun sets, so does the power. Storing energy during sunny times for later use is the most common solution, but it has drawbacks, too.
Storage systems typically require multiple layers, and each step leads to some energy loss. Interesting Engineering detailed the process researchers used to avoid the need for multiple parts by turning wood "into an all-in-one solar energy system." The full study was published in Advanced Energy Materials.
The researchers redesigned the wood's internal nanostructure and created a material that can absorb sunlight, store it as heat, and continue to generate electricity in the absence of sunlight.
The main issue with wood in this application is that it reflects sunlight and absorbs water. The team started with balsa wood, which contains nanoscale tunnel-like channels that guide heat. Initially, researchers removed lignin to enhance the porosity of these channels, as explained by the outlet.
The channels were coated with layers of black phosphorene, a material that turns absorbed sunlight into heat. Next, they encapsulated the nanosheets with tannic acid and metal ions to enhance light absorption and prevent oxidation. They also included additional nanoparticles for light absorption and hydrocarbon chains for water resistance. They filled the channels with stearic acid, a substance that melts and stores energy when heated and releases that energy when it solidifies. This slow release allows for energy production after the light source is gone.
The researchers wrote in the study that the resulting wood product "integrates flame retardancy, superhydrophobicity, and antimicrobial activity, thereby mitigating dust adhesion and microbial colonization that would otherwise deteriorate the outdoor photothermal performance."
Other researchers have found ways to generate electricity with no sunlight at all, utilizing water and even outer space.
As the effects of an overheating planet become more evident, the need to move away from polluting energy sources to cleaner ones becomes increasingly important. A material like this wood could have multiple applications, including in highly polluting industries such as construction.
For this research team, the next step is scalability, but the possibilities appear promising.
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"This work presents a scalable and environmentally friendly wood-based platform for advanced solar thermal energy harvesting," the authors wrote.
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