GREEN BATTERIES FROM A PLANT

  • Recent research shows that Common Madder (Rubiatinctorum) can be used to produce rechargeable green batteries. It is a climbing plant native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean. It is also known as Dyer's Madder as a red dye extracted from it has been used to color cloth.
  • Madder plant is a good source of purpurin, an organic dye, that can be turned into a highly effective, natural cathode for lithium-ion batteries, as an alternative to the cobalt oxide cathodes, which are presently used. Such green batteries are the need of the hour, which need immediate attention and sustained thrust.
  • However, the focus of research community is currently primarily on improving the features of conventional batteries and making them environment friendly. The studies are based on the special properties of purpurin, which has the ability to electrochemically interact with lithium ions.
  • To add conductivity, they added 20 percent carbon and then built a half battery cell with capacity of 90 milliamp-hours per gm after 50 charge/ discharge cycles It is suggested that agricultural waste may be a source of purpurin, as may other soluble molecules, which will make the process even more economical.
Posted on by
Score
Views