蛋白質(zhì)薄膜在潮濕的空氣中產(chǎn)生無(wú)碳電流

蛋白質(zhì)薄膜在潮濕的空氣中產(chǎn)生無(wú)碳電流

Most of the world's electricity still comes from burning 100-million-year-old dead life-forms, but new alternatives keep appearing. The latest uses protein nanowires to draw electricity from the atmosphere, although since moisture from humidity is required, the air the power comes from isn't entirely thin.

世界上大部分的電力仍然來(lái)自于燃燒一億年前死去的生命，但是新的替代能源不斷出現(xiàn)。最新的技術(shù)是利用蛋白質(zhì)納米線(xiàn)從大氣中獲取電力，不過(guò)由于需要從濕度中獲取水分，因此產(chǎn)生電力的空氣并不完全稀薄。

The new device, named the Air-gen, is the brainchild of microbiologist Dr Derek Lovley and electrical engineer Dr Jun Yao, both from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. They claim their creation avoids the key outstanding problem of other sorts of renewable energy. "The Air-gen generates clean energy 24/7," Yao said in a statement.

這種名為“空氣發(fā)生器”的新設(shè)備是來(lái)自馬薩諸塞大學(xué)阿姆赫斯特分校的微生物學(xué)家德里克·洛夫利博士和電氣工程師姚俊博士的創(chuàng)意。他們聲稱(chēng)他們的發(fā)明避免了其他可再生能源的關(guān)鍵問(wèn)題。姚在一份聲明中說(shuō):“空氣能全天候產(chǎn)生清潔能源。”

Stephen Luntz

Some attempts to produce electricity from novel sources rely on exceptionally expensive raw materials. The film of electrically conductive nanowires connecting the Air-gen's two electrodes, however, is produced by Geobacter bacteria fed on a cheap diet. Gold leaf electrodes were used, but substitution with inert carbon also worked. The film is less than a hundredth of a millimeter thick and only partially covered by the top electrode, exposing it to the air. Pores in the film absorb atmospheric water vapor and a moisture gradient induces ionization, with positive charges diffusing one way and electrons the other.

有些利用新能源發(fā)電的嘗試依賴(lài)于異常昂貴的原材料。然而，連接Air-gen的兩個(gè)電極的導(dǎo)電納米線(xiàn)薄膜是由吃廉價(jià)食物的Geobacter細(xì)菌制造的。使用金箔電極，但也可以用惰性碳代替。該薄膜的厚度不足百分之一毫米，并且只有部分被頂部電極覆蓋，暴露在空氣中。薄膜中的孔隙吸收大氣中的水蒸氣，水分梯度誘導(dǎo)電離，正電荷以一種方式擴(kuò)散，電子則以另一種方式擴(kuò)散。

On a laboratory scale, the Air-gen's energy density is high compared to most novel renewable energy devices. The test model Yao and Lovley describe in Nature produced 4mWatts/cm2 at best – about a fifth of a solar panel in full sunlight. That's almost as high as another recent renewable novelty, a panel that turns the kinetic energy of raindrops into electricity. However, existing modules are tiny – a quarter of a square centimeter, and scaling up may be a challenge.

在實(shí)驗(yàn)室規(guī)模，空氣發(fā)電的能量密度比大多數(shù)新型可再生能源設(shè)備高。Yao和Lovley在《自然》雜志上描述的試驗(yàn)?zāi)Ｐ妥疃嘀荒墚a(chǎn)生4mw /cm2的能量——大約是全日照下太陽(yáng)能電池板的五分之一。這幾乎和另一種最新的可再生能源一樣高，一種將雨滴的動(dòng)能轉(zhuǎn)化為電能的面板。然而，現(xiàn)有的模塊非常小——只有四分之一平方厘米，擴(kuò)展可能是一個(gè)挑戰(zhàn)。

On the other hand, Air-gen's capacity is uniquely resilient to changing weather conditions. Production dropped when humidity was outside an ideal range, but even Saharan conditions didn't stop it entirely. Electricity has been generated from humidity before, but with much lower power densities and only in bursts that last less than a minute. Air-gen appears able to keep going indefinitely, although even under constant humidity electricity production fell slowly over a day.

另一方面，Air-gen的能力對(duì)不斷變化的天氣條件具有獨(dú)特的彈性。當(dāng)濕度超出理想范圍時(shí)，產(chǎn)量就會(huì)下降，但即便是撒哈拉地區(qū)的情況也未能完全阻止這一趨勢(shì)。以前也曾利用濕度發(fā)電，但功率密度要低得多，而且只能在持續(xù)不到一分鐘的突發(fā)情況下發(fā)電?？諝獍l(fā)電似乎能夠無(wú)限期地持續(xù)下去，盡管即使在恒濕的情況下，發(fā)電量也在一天內(nèi)緩慢下降。

Initially, the authors hope to produce patches that power wearable electronic devices, and then paint the walls of off-grid houses with the nanowires. “Once we get to an industrial scale for wire production, I fully expect that we can make large systems that will make a major contribution to sustainable energy production,” Yao said.

一開(kāi)始，作者們希望能制造出一種可以為可穿戴電子設(shè)備供電的貼片，然后用納米線(xiàn)在離網(wǎng)房屋的墻壁上進(jìn)行噴涂。姚說(shuō):“一旦我們達(dá)到工業(yè)規(guī)模的電線(xiàn)生產(chǎn)，我完全期待我們能夠制造出大型系統(tǒng)，為可持續(xù)能源生產(chǎn)做出重大貢獻(xiàn)。”

Lovley identified the Geobacter in Potomac River mud 30 years ago, and later discovered it eats electrons off rocks and produces electrically conductive protein nanowires. The idea of using these wires for electricity production came about by accident when Yao's PhD student Xiaomeng Liu was trying to use them to make sensors and noticed under certain circumstances current was produced.

洛夫利30年前在波托馬克河的泥土中發(fā)現(xiàn)了Geobacter，后來(lái)發(fā)現(xiàn)它會(huì)吃掉巖石上的電子，并產(chǎn)生可導(dǎo)電的蛋白質(zhì)納米線(xiàn)。使用這些電線(xiàn)發(fā)電的想法是偶然產(chǎn)生的，當(dāng)時(shí)姚的博士生劉曉萌正試圖用它們來(lái)制作傳感器，并注意到在一定的情況下會(huì)產(chǎn)生電流。