New Eco-Friendly Battery Is Made From Crab And Lobster Shells
Could crabs and lobsters help make batteries more sustainable? Scientists think so!
Moving to green solutions for cleaner energy generation isn't enough, even the batteries to support such technology need to get on the environmentally friendly train. Chemicals used in traditional lithium-ion batteries take hundreds or thousands of years to break down, and also run the risk of catching fire.
Hoping to find a valuable solution to this problem, scientists from the US have developed batteries that use a product from crustacean shells to store energy.
How crab and lobster shells help
Scientists now think a chemical found in crab and lobster shells may be used to make batteries more sustainable. Crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters, and shrimps have exoskeletons made from cells containing chitin. Chitin is a kind of polysaccharide that makes their shells hard and resistant.
After chemical processing and with a hint of acetic acid aqueous solution, chitin may be synthesised into a gel membrane to be used as a battery electrolyte.
Also read:?New Battery Made From Cheap Materials Can Ease Storage Of Renewable Energy
Electrolyte liquids or paste inside a battery help charged molecules (ions) travel between two ends of a battery to store energy. This "chitosan electrolyte" then was mixed with zinc to keep the battery safe and also cheap.
The battery's creators say that is is 99.7% energy efficient even after 1,000 battery cycles that provide up to 400 hours. Essentially, these batteries may be charged and discharged quickly without any harm to their performance.
Also read:?IIT Dhanbad Alumnus Develops AI Tech To Improve Phone Battery Performance
What makes the battery environment friendly? Two-thirds of this battery (that is made from chitosan) can break down in soil in just five months, all thanks to microbial degradation. It only leaves behind recyclable zinc as a by product.
A paper outlining the research was published in the journal Matter by lead author Liangbing Hu from the University of Maryland.
What do you think about this battery made from shells of crabs and lobsters? Let us know in the comments below.?For?more in the world of?technology?and?science, keep reading?Indiatimes.com.??
References
Quaglia, S. (2022, September 1). Crab and lobster shells could be used to make renewable batteries. The Guardian.?
