Artificial leaf, new way of energy production

1. ARTIFICIAL LEAF
SOLVING THE ENERGY CRISIS BY
MIMICKING NATURE

2. What is ARTIFICIAL LEAF ?
ARTIFICIAL LEAF is like living leaves,
this device can turn the energy
of sunlight directly into a chemical
fuel that can be stored and used
later as energy source.

3. STRUCTURE
 The artificial leaf consists of semiconductors
stacked together in a way that resembles
a natural leaf system.
 Semiconductors such as silicon or gallium
arsenide absorb light efficiently and are
therefore used in this device.
 The ultra-thin wireless device mimics plant
leaves to produce energy using water and
sunlight.

4. WORKING
When light hits the device’s surface, the
electrons move in one direction,
producing an electric current. This current
is then channelled to a connected supply
of water, where it splits it into hydrogen
and oxygen, the former being a
component of green fuel cells.

5. Research is undergoing
As the world slowly uses up its finite supply of hydrocarbon-based
fuels, the search is on for other power sources, be they renewable
energy or just other kinds of fuel.
In view of pressing energy and environmental issues, it was
important to produce hydrogen from natural resources such as
sunlight and water, CSIR-NCL principal scientist Gopinath said.
The work has been produced in the lab so far and a lot was still
needed on the project, he said. “But in the not-so-distant future,
we could expect to see a car fuelled by hydrogen generated
from the artificial leaf process on-board or stored during the day
time,” Gopinath said.

6. ADVANTAGES
 one of the cleanest forms of fuel as its main by-product
is water.
 At present, hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels by
steam reforming and in this process emits a large
amount of carbon di-oxide (CO2) – a green house gas
that promotes global warming. In view of pressing
energy and environmental issues, it was important to
produce hydrogen from natural resources such as
sunlight and water.
 The preparation method is simple and
practicable and hence there is a very good possibility
of scaling it up.

7. DISADVANTAGES
 Materials often corrode in water, when these
are placed over for a long period of time.
 Overall cost is not advantageous enough to
compete with fossil fuels.

8. FUTURE SCOPE
 It may provide clean energy for
powering eco-friendly cars in the future.
 Some countries are now facing fuel
crisis and according to latest report in
some time it will take place all over the
world. Then this can be used as
alternate option.

9. CONCLUSION
Our goal is to make each home its
own power station.
One can envision villages in India
and Africa not long from now
purchasing an affordable power
system based on this technology.

10. Thank you