The photosynthetic efficiency of "artificial leaves" is 10 times that of natural leaves

According to the report on March 28 (Beijing time) of the website of American physicists organization, at the 24th National Conference of the American Chemical Society recently held, chemists of MIT said that they have made a milestone breakthrough in sustainable energy The real practical "artificial tree leaf" was developed by them for the first time, and its photosynthetic efficiency is 10 times that of natural leaves This "artificial leaf" is not really like the leaves of natural green plants The research team just uses leaves as a style of their solar cell design, consisting of silicon, electronic components, catalysts, etc Put it in a gallon of water and exposed to the sun, and the device generates enough electricity to support a developing country's household for a day This kind of battery can be installed on the top or side of the house Its working principle is to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen, which are stored in the battery to generate current "Our goal is for each family to have its own power station," said Daniel Nocera, a chemist at MIT who led the research team For the poor areas of developing countries such as India and Africa, "artificial leaves" have a more special significance and can be used as a cheap household power supply " "Artificial leaves" is not a new concept More than 10 years ago, John Turner of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory created the first "artificial leaf" Although its photosynthetic efficiency is very high, it is made of expensive rare metals, and it is very unstable Its life span is only one day, so it can not be widely used New leaves overcomes these problems The key breakthrough is that they have developed several powerful and cheap catalysts, which are made of nickel and cobalt They can effectively decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen and maintain high stability under simple conditions According to the experiment, the photosynthesis of this kind of "artificial leaves" can last for 45 hours without reducing the activity, the efficiency is 10 times of that of natural leaves, and it can be further improved in the future "This practical 'artificial leaf' has been the Holy Grail of energy science for decades Nature is driven by photosynthesis, and the future world may be driven by the light cooperation of 'artificial leaves' Nocera said.