An international scientific team from the Clemson Nanomaterials Institute (CNI) and Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL) in India has come up with a unique method for combining curcumin, an ingredient in turmeric, with gold particles. To make an electrode, it takes 100 times less energy to convert ethanol in a hydrogen fuel cell into electricity in an efficient and highly efficient manner.
It is known that turmeric, a type of spice found in most kitchens, contains an extract that can lead to the manufacture of electrodes for safer and more effective hydrogen fuel cells, according to what was stated in the press release issued by the Clemson Institute, and the statement confirms that the study published in the journal Nano. Nano Energy, more testing needs to be done.
Lakshman Ventraprajada Turmeric For Safer, More Effective Fuel Cells (Clemson Institute)
Advantages of fuel cells
Fuel cells differ from batteries in that they are inexhaustible and do not require charging. Rather, they need fuels such as hydrogen, methanol, and gasoline. The battery stores energy, while fuel cells generate it.
Fuel cells produce electricity through an electrical reaction using hydrogen and oxygen, and are based on the opposite of the idea of water analysis, as when water is analyzed by electricity, hydrogen is separated from oxygen by the two electrodes, while the fuel cell makes hydrogen interact with oxygen, which produces an electric current.
“Fuel cells generate electricity through a chemical reaction rather than combustion, and the energy produced in this process is used to power vehicles, buildings, portable electronic devices and backup power systems,” says Aparao Rao, founding director of the Clemson Institute and professor of physics in the College of Science.
The statement from the Clemson Institute states that hydrogen fuel cells are highly efficient, and do not produce greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
Scientists have made a fuel cell electrode from a mixture of curcumin and gold nanoparticles (Shutterstock)
ethanol to produce hydrogen
Cells get oxygen from the air, but the problem is getting hydrogen, which is not free in nature, so some manufacturers of hydrogen-fuelled cars add a "fuel converter" whose mission is to get hydrogen from ethanol or gasoline.
According to the statement, while hydrogen is the most common chemical element in the universe, it must be derived from materials such as natural gas and fossil fuels because it occurs naturally on Earth only in the form of a compound with other elements in liquids, gases or solids.
The use of hydrogen in fuel cells is economically important in that it is low in cost, in addition to its importance in reducing environmental impacts, as it is a compressed gas, which creates challenges for storage and transportation.
"Ethanol, an alcohol made from corn or other agricultural feed, is safer and easier to transport than hydrogen because it is a liquid," the institute's statement adds.
Curcumin was used to decorate gold nanoparticles for their stability and porosity (Shutterstock)
turmeric electrode
“In order to get electricity, via ethanol, in a hydrogen fuel cell, the electrodes must be highly efficient, inexpensive, and not environmentally friendly synthetic polymeric substrates,” says study co-author Lakshman Ventraprajada from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Education. "We've been looking for something green for the fuel cell generation process and making the fuel cell itself."
According to the institute's statement, the researchers focused in the study on the anode electrode in the fuel cell, where ethanol or another feed source would be oxidized. That's why the researchers used curcumin because of its structural uniqueness.
In order to obtain the anode electrode in an ethanol-based fuel cell as an electrical power converter, curcumin was used to decorate and stabilize gold nanoparticles, and to form a porous network around the nanoparticles. The researchers placed gold and curcumin nanoparticles on the surface of the electrode with an electric current of less than 100 times than in previous studies.
This method that uses curcumin may gain interest beyond the confines of these cell-enhancers (Shutterstock)
Without the curcumin coating, Ventraprajada explained, the gold nanoparticles clump, reducing the surface area exposed to the chemical reaction.
This is confirmed by the head of the research team, Dr. Rao, who says, "Without this curcumin coating the performance is poor, we need this coating to achieve stability and create a porous environment around the nanoparticles."
On the future and prospects of this discovery, the research team believes that expanding the scope of this method in the manufacture of an electrode, which combines curcumin from turmeric, and gold nanoparticles, stimulates the manufacture of fuel cells and the construction of groups of cells for the real application of this unique method.
In addition, this method could gain interest beyond the limits of these improved cells, as it has potential for future applications in sensors, supercapacitors, and more.