Researchers have identified a glow-in-the-dark dye as optimal material to develop batteries for energies like wind and solar in the continued quest to develop storage for large-scale alternative energy reuse.
A team of chemists at the University at Buffalo have discovered that a fluorescent dye called BODIPY — an acronym for boron-dipyrromethene — executes two energy-related tasks extremely well: storing electrons and participating in electron transfer. These are exactly the tasks batteries must perform to save and deliver energy, they said, making BODIPY a perfect material to store large amounts of energy in rechargeable, liquid-based batteries that could one day power cars and homes.
Researchers tested BODIPY in what’s called a redox flow battery, which consists of two tanks of fluids separated by various barriers. Flow batteries are one method being pursued by a number of researchers as candidates for large-scale solar- and wind-energy storage. Researchers think these types of batteries will solve the problem of scale and reuse because they can easily be enlarged to store more energy for reuse later in both residential scenarios and for use by energy utilities.
“A flow battery using BODIPY can be used to store any energy source that drives the generation of electricity,” explained Timothy Cook, an assistant professor of chemistry at the University at Buffalo and the leader of the research team. “For example, a solar panel can generate a current and voltage that can be used to charge up the BODIPY dye, but the same battery could easily be attached to a wind turbine, a hydroelectric dam, or even a hand-crank generator. As long as a high enough charging voltage can be created, any source capable of generating electricity can be stored.”
The effectiveness of a redox flow battery depends on the chemical properties of the fluids in each tank. When the battery is being used, electrons are harvested from one tank and moved to the other, generating an electric current that in theory can power from the smallest device to an entire house. To recharge the battery, a solar or wind energy source would force the electrons back into the original tank, where the process of generating an electric current starts over.
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