{"id":10677,"date":"2015-12-31T21:12:13","date_gmt":"2016-01-01T04:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=10677"},"modified":"2015-12-31T21:12:13","modified_gmt":"2016-01-01T04:12:13","slug":"batteries-that-dont-assault-nature-but-let-the-sun-shine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/batteries-that-dont-assault-nature-but-let-the-sun-shine\/","title":{"rendered":"Batteries That Don\u2019t Assault Nature, But Let the Sun Shine"},"content":{"rendered":"

In use since the Victorian Age, lead-acid batteries are among the most common energy storage devices, even after decades of being challenged by newer technologies.\u00a0 Almost every car has a lead-acid battery under the hood \u2013 even hybrids that rely on lithium or other metal batteries for propulsion.\u00a0 Used lead-acid batteries (ULABs) eventually deteriorate to the point where they can no longer kick over the starter or fire up the lights in their vehicle and are recycled or discarded.<\/p>\n

Worstpolluted.org<\/em> says<\/a>, \u201cBecause of the toxic materials within these used batteries, the Basel Convention has included ULABs on its list of materials classified as \u2018hazardous waste.\u2019\u201d Often, especially in emerging nations, the batteries are smelted into lead ingots, but just as often by child laborers who are unprotected from toxic fumes.\u00a0 Batteries tossed into landfills leach out lead into groundwater and eventually streams and rivers.<\/p>\n

In this country, the lead in those batteries is smelted under usually more controlled conditions, and 80-percent of lead removed from used batteries ends up going back into service in new batteries.\u00a0 If Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers are correct in their assumptions<\/a>, though, used batteries may find new life as solar cells.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a>

Dr. Angela Belcher, stirring up excitement in her MIT laboratory<\/p><\/div>\n

Angela Belcher, a favorite of ours for many years, has announced a way to whip up perovskite-based solar cells from recycled lead plates no longer energetic enough for batteries.\u00a0 Better still, the solar cells are an inexpensive replacement for silicon photovoltaics.\u00a0 As the MIT Energy Initiative article by Nancy W. Stauffer explains, \u201cLaboratory experiments confirm that solar cells made with recycled lead work just as well as those made with high-purity, commercially available starting materials.\u201d\u00a0 This would alleviate the need to mine new lead, benefitting the environment even while researchers look for \u201cmore benign but equally effective material\u201d to replace the lead.<\/p>\n

Perovskites are the newest miracle material, crystalline photovoltaics made from literally dirt cheap and readily available materials and used in an increasing number of electronics applications.\u00a0 Rapidly increasing in efficiency, the minerals have drawn the attention of materials guru Belcher.\u00a0 The James Mason Crafts Professor in biological engineering and materials science and engineering at MIT is amused to report, \u201cWhen perovskite-based solar cells first came out, they were a few percent efficient. \u00a0Then they were 6 percent efficient, then 15 percent, and then 20 percent. It was really fun to watch the efficiencies skyrocket over the course of a couple years.\u201d\u00a0 Beyond that, perovskites can be easily processed at low temperatures, and the final cells can be thin, lightweight and flexible.\u00a0 Imagine these thin films bedecking windows, buildings and maybe even wings.<\/p>\n

\"Don't<\/a>

Don’t necessarily try this at home. MIT researchers kept a few steps out to protect the youth of America: Illustration: MIT Energy Initiative<\/p><\/div>\n

Processing can be done at room temperatures, with readily available materials, as shown in the video below.\u00a0 Belcher and her colleague, Paula Hammond, made them with simple materials.\u00a0 It shows a process that is self-censored by the pair because they found that high school students were following the video to make science fair presentations, they had the section on extracting the materials from old car batteries removed, worrying that the lead and acid might present a health hazard to kids not up on material safety data sheets (MSDS).<\/p>\n