TheAMchemistry87
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Making solar panels from Chlorophyll without any pollution HELP
I have been thinking for a long time about making them but i need some ideas. Well first i want to start small by using microscope slides. I also need
to find out what type of clorophyll is the best to get the most energy from photosynthesis. I heard that silver is a very good conductor of
electricity so ill be needing that. In Inorganic labs that are trying to make solar panels they use platinum metal as a catalyst but that is to
expensive for me. If i make a solar panel do i need to add like fuses for it wont burn up. It doesnt need to be chlorophyll i just need some great
ideas. So anyone please give me some suggestions \
-AMchemistry
[Edited on 13-6-2012 by TheAMchemistry87]
[Edited on 13-6-2012 by TheAMchemistry87]
[Edited on 13-6-2012 by TheAMchemistry87]
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Migratory
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I'm not so sure about using chlorophyll in a solar panel, but what do I know? I can tell you that you don't need any fuses, just keep them away from
bright light if you want to prevent them from overheating. And you don't need silver, copper is a fine conductor.
[Edited on 13-6-2012 by Migratory]
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blogfast25
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This is not a 'homelab project'. Just creating the conditions in which chlorophyll can operate (essentially plant cell conditions) would be
complicated. I recommend a PhD in Biochemistry, at a minimum.
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fledarmus
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Here is one method...
Converts water, carbon dioxide and sunlight into energy (assuming you have a good fireplace)
[Edited on 13-6-2012 by fledarmus]
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Endimion17
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"Making solar panels from Chlorophyll without any pollution"
Yeah... that doesn't work.
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Rich_Insane
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I've been doing a lot of work lately with various biologically produced pigments that react to light. Many organisms produce polyphenolic or quinonic
compounds to protect from ultraviolet radiation. One such application is the use of anthocyanin dyes from blackberry in dye-sensitized cells. An
organic chemist I worked with for a while was using porphyrin-like compounds (chlorophyll itself has a porphyrin "head" with a magnesium ion right in
the center).
These cells work by absorbing photons, which excite electrons within the dye (mostly by the phenolic groups, I think). An electrolyte (generally a
triiodide electrolyte made from iodine, potassium iodide and ethylene glycol) acts as both a buffer and an electron donor while titanium dioxide
"nanoparticles" (it sounds fancy, but TiO2 is actually very cheap, even the 20 nm particles commonly used in these procedures) acts as an electron
acceptor.
Most of the work my colleagues and I did was to play around with a bunch of different pigments. It's actually fascinating how many naturally produced
pigments work on this sort of cell.
Here is a good explanation: Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Some literature:
Solid-state dye-sensitized mesoporous TiO2 solar cells with high photon-to-electron conversion efficiencies
Low-cost, high efficiency solar cell based on dye-sensitized colloidal TiO2
Dye-Sensitized Cells
There may also be kits out there to build these cells, but making them from scratch can be quite interesting.
This is just my theory, but I think that the reason we can't just splotch chlorophyll onto a slide and generate power is because chlorophyll needs a
very powerful electron acceptor. Graphite is a nice conductor, you can buy "graphite paint" in aerosol form. I forgot where exactly to get it, but
there's this spray paint-like thing that disperses graphite onto surfaces as a thin film.
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ScienceSquirrel
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Thread Moved
15-6-2012 at 17:57 |
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