This Material Can Store Solar Energy For Years

Renewable technology is the need of the world, as the world begins to be devastated by global warming. Just recently, the president of the United Nations ordered all nations to announce a “climate emergency.” Today, the only means to save planet Earth are sustainable ways of utilising the energy at hand and employing modern technology.

Energy is the basis of all life on the earth, and scientists may have found a way to store solar energy for months or even years. And this might change the whole world in a positive direction.

The material that would enable such a remarkable feat to become reality is referred to as “metal-organic framework” or MOF. Carbon-based molecules form structures and connect to metal ions in this process.

MOFs are extremely porous, which ensures that in cooperation with other tiny molecules, they strike and create a composite material.

The molecules of the compound – azobenzene, which can absorb light, have been added by scientists. On average, the composite substance was capable of storing energy emitted from ultraviolet light at room temperature for at least four months. It was then able to release it again after this.

This represents a significant improvement over days and weeks which several light-responsive materials can be handled.

ScienceAlert talked to John Griffins, a materials chemist from the University of Lancaster in the United Kingdom, who said that the material acts as a “phase change material” that is used to supply heat in hand warmers. However it is important to recharge hand warmers, but this material absorbs energy directly from the Sun.

Before it becomes widely feasible, the material still needs a great deal of work. But it will eventually be used to clear ice from vehicle windscreens, and to help homes and offices with heating.