Researchers create floating artificial leaves that generate clean fuel from sunlight, water and CO2

Researchers at Cambridge University have created artificial leaves that float on water and produce clean fuel. The ultra-thin, lightweight, and flexible device produces a carbon-neutral fuel using solar technology that imitates photosynthesis and turns sunlight into food.

The device converts sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water into liquid fuel that can be stored while floating. Unlike normal solar cells, which produce an electrical current, this does not.

The leaves underwent several successful tests on the river Cam, demonstrating that they could now transform sunlight into fuel "as efficiently as plant leaves." This method will also help to decrease the dependency of the world’s shipping industry on fossil fuels.

Virgil Andrei, a researcher, said, "Solar farms have become popular for electricity production; we envision similar farms for fuel synthesis," The Times UK reported.

She further said that farms can provide water to remote islands, coastal towns, and industrial ponds and even cover irrigation canals to prevent water evaporation.

She said, "This study demonstrates that artificial leaves are compatible with modern fabrication techniques, representing an early step towards the automation and up-scaling of solar fuel production."

The leaves function when water and CO2 are available and sunlight reaches a panel covered in semiconductor powder. As a result of light absorption, the panel’s electrons are simulated, which allows them to combine with CO2.

Another researcher, Erwin Reisner, is optimistic that this technology will revolutionise the maritime sector, where cargo ships propelled by fossil fuels transport 80 per cent of the world’s trade.

The team’s aim was to reduce the size of their original design by affixing light absorbers to thin substrates that are impervious to water penetration. The researchers created a micrometre-thin, water-repellent carbon-based coating on top of thin-film metal oxides and perovskites, which can be coated in flexible plastic and metal foils to avoid moisture degradation.

These artificial leaves need more development before they can be used commercially, including developing a mechanism to extract the fuel from the leaf.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE