Clemson Nanomaterials Institute (CNI) researchers and their collaborators from the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL) in India discovered a novel way to combine curcumin, the substance found in turmeric, and gold nanoparticles to create an electrode that requires 100 times less energy to efficiently convert ethanol into electricity.
While additional testing is required, the finding puts substituting hydrogen as a fuel cell feedstock one step closer.
Use of curcumin as fuel cell
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Fuel cells are devices that produce electricity through a chemical process that does not require combustion, as per Express.
They may be used on a wide range of scales and scenarios, from powering small electronic gadgets to vehicles and even whole structures.
The most frequent fuel utilized is hydrogen, which results in a highly efficient cell that emits no greenhouse emissions during operation.
However, because the majority of this element is derived from natural gas and other fossil fuels, its extraction raises both the cost and the environmental effect of hydrogen fuel cells.
The hydrogen utilized in fuel cells is also kept as a gas mixture, which makes confinement and transportation difficult.
"Of all the catalysts for alcohol oxidation in alkaline media, the one we created is the best so far," Apparao Rao, CNI's founding director, and R. A. Bowen a physics professor in the College of Science.
Instead of burning, fuel cells create power through a chemical process. They provide energy to automobiles, buildings, portable electronic gadgets, and backup power systems.
Hydrogen fuel cells are extremely efficient and emit no greenhouse emissions, as per ScienceDaily.
While hydrogen is the most prevalent chemical element in the universe, it must be obtained from sources such as natural gas and fossil fuels since it only exists naturally on Earth in compound form with other elements in liquids, gases, or solids.
Gold was employed as a catalyst by the researchers. Because of its structural distinctiveness, the researchers employed curcumin instead of conducting polymers, metal-organic frameworks, or other complicated materials to deposit gold on the surface of the electrode.
Curcumin is used to stabilize gold nanoparticles by generating a porous network around them. Researchers used a 100 times lower electric current to deposit the curcumin gold nanoparticle on the surface of the electrode than in earlier research.
Without the curcumin covering, the gold nanoparticles cluster, reducing the surface area exposed to the chemical reaction, according to Lakshman Ventrapragada, a former student of Rao's who worked as a research assistant at the CNI and is an alumnus of SSSIHL
"The performance is terrible without this curcumin coating," Rao added. "We need this covering to stabilize the nanoparticles and generate a permeable environment around them."
Rao's team is evaluating the electrode as a sensor to detect changes in dopamine levels in partnership with the SSSIHL research team.
Dopamine has been linked to diseases including Parkinson's and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
When members of the study team evaluated urine samples taken from healthy volunteers, they were able to quantify dopamine to the acceptable therapeutic range using this electrode in a more cost-effective manner than typical methods used today, according to Rao.
