Why boiled? Interestingly enough, a boiled potato is ten times more electrifying than a raw potato.
This is a pivotal discovery, as the world is definitely not facing a shortage of potatoes, unlike other depleting energy resources. In fact, potatoes are the number one, non-grain, starch food grown in the world today. What’s more, the electricity produced by potato batteries is five to fifty times cheaper than commercial available household (AA alkaline and D cell) batteries. As a light source, using boiled potato power is six times cheaper than using kerosene lamps. Moreover, this new way of using vegetables is not only limited to potatoes, but works just as well with ‘similarly treated other plant tissues’.
“The ability to provide electrical power with such simple and natural means could benefit millions of people in the developing word, literally bringing light and telecommunication to their life in areas currently lacking electrical infrastructure.”
The researchers were actually studying Zinc-Copper (Zn/Cu) electrolysis in animal tissues as a means for “generation of internal electricity for powering both microrobots and/or implanted medical devices” when they deduced that an “irreversible change in the cellular and tissue structures either through irreversible electroporation or boiling resulted in an order of magnitude increase in the power generated by the vegetative (potato) cell”. Or in other words – simply boiling the potato greatly increased the power.
The research was published in the June 2010 issue of the Journal of Renewable & Sustainable Energy to "benefit millions of people in the developing world, literally bringing light and telecommunication to their life in areas currently lacking electrical infrastructure", according to Yaacov Michlin, CEO of Yissum, the organisation that licenses out technology developed at the Hebrew University. They believe the boiled potato battery can aid developing countries in areas, such as lighting, telecommunications, and information transfer.
Dana Gavish-Fridman, who is a part of Yissum’s public relations division, explained Yissum’s role further; what they do is protect “all IP and know-how” as well as “identify the correct industry partner that could take our technology and create a product, that would later be sold in the market”. However, as Yissum saw “the huge potential this invention may have for improving the lives of people in third world and disadvantaged countries” they decided to “make the invention public”.
Build your own potato battery
Yissum has also provided these instructions on how to make this simple vegetable-battery:
First of all, a slice of potato is placed between two small sheaths of metal electrodes (zinc and copper). Because it hasn’t been designed industrially it lacks beauty, but appropriate packaging could make it more user friendly. Simply purchase a wired, empty box and then sandwich a slice of boiled potato slice between the electrodes, wrap with suitable material (eg plastic) to hold the electrodes around it and prevent the potato from drying out.
Fast Facts – the research setup:
- Researchers used “Desiree” potatoes
- Potato slice size: 50mm x 90mm x 29mm (see photo)
- Electrodes: Zinc (Zn) and Copper (Cu) electrodes with surface areas of 16cm2
- Five slices were connected in series [you can use less – but connecting in series increases the total voltage]
- Each slice with electrodes was wrapped in a thermoplastic, sealing film
- Potatoes were cooked in 4.9 g/l KCl (potassium chloride) solution in a microwave at 810W for 5 minutes [perhaps salted water will work just as well at home]
Links:
Article in Journal of Renewable & Sustainable Energy
Written by Christabelle Tani
Editing by Suze Chalmers
Image credit: Tommy Jørgensen via Flickr Creative Commons
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