Inventions have no boundaries and no limits. The same thing happens when two scientists discover an electrode to store solar energy with a similar pattern existing in an American fern.
One of the most affordable non-conventional sources of energy is the solar energy. The storage of this energy is the crucial part that has so far halted its widespread adoption. But, recently two scientists at the RMIT University in Australia have unveiled a unique electrode to get the best solution for storage, Inhabitat reported. The electrode is designed that support the western sword fern.
Graphene is the source material of the electrode that can easily increase the storage capacity of the solar energy. This new invention develops a flexible technology that inspires the scientists to use a thin film on cars, buildings, and smartphones to store the energy. The success came after a rigorous research. The research study is published in the popular journal Scientific Reports.
The veins of an American fern, the Polystichum munitum, are the key inspiration behind this research study and invention. The leaves of this western sword fern are intensely packed with veins. This pattern helps the leaves to store energy and transport water throughout the plant, according to one of the lead researcher Min Gu. The said electrode that can store the solar energy is also designed with this same pattern.
The best thing about this pattern is that the electrode supports the self-replication similar to the tiny structures exists in the snowflakes. The researchers have made this breakthrough to bring the ultimate solution to store the solar energy. They developed the invention to store the energy at a nano level.
The currently developed prototype includes a 30 times more capacity than the available limits. In a word, a huge dimension is uncovered in the arena of modern science to store the solar energy. The new electrode opens up a new way to create a thin solar film instead of the common bulky solar cells to use.
