The North Carolina State University research team recently demonstrated a new solar device called "artificial leaves." The device is based on a hydrogel and can generate electricity just like a solar cell. The cost is expected to be lower than that of existing silicon-based solar cells, and the environmental protection effect is better.
The “artificial leaves†consist of a water-based gel filled with photosensitive molecules, with two electrodes coated with carbon material. The researchers used chlorophyll as a photosensitizing molecule in the experiment.
Orlin Velev, a professor at North Carolina State University, said that just as plant molecules are excited to synthesize sugars, photoactive molecules are stimulated by the sun's rays to generate electricity. The research paper was published in the online edition of the Journal of Materials Chemistry. Willieff is the lead author.
The team hopes to figure out how to imitate materials that can use solar energy in nature. Although artificial photo-sensitive molecules can be used for "artificial leaves", naturally-derived materials such as chlorophyll can also be easily integrated because the matrix of the device is a hydrogel.
Willif said that researchers will fine-tune the water-based photovoltaic elements to make them closer to the real leaves. He said: "The next step is to imitate the self-regeneration mechanism found in plants. Another challenge is to change the water-based gels and photosensitive molecules to improve the efficiency of solar cells."
Wielif even imagined the scene of "artificial leaf" solar cells everywhere on the roof of the future, but he said: "At this stage we cannot expect too much. The efficiency of this device is still relatively low. Before becoming a practical technology, There is still a long way to go. However, we believe that bio-inspired 'soft' power generation devices may become an alternative to today's solid-state technologies."
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