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Chemists create vitamin-powered battery

4/14/2017

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Many of you are returning from Spring Break and getting ready for the last month or two of the school year.  Check out these past blog entries for End of School Year ideas:
 
06/01/2014             High School Lab Activity –Tie Dyeing
06/08/2014             Final Exams – End of Year Preparation
06/15/2014             End of Year Activity – Lab Clean-Up
04/30/2015             Lab Practical Examination
06/04/2015             Final Exams II

 
The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials. This is very useful at the end of the school year because departments budgets usually are out of current year funds.
 
There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report.  This way the teacher has the option!  Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout. 
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you -- Order Now.  It’s a great resource!
 
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html
 
*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
“Vitamins may be good for more than strong bones and healthy bodies. They might also be good for powering batteries. In the latest version of an organic flow battery—which uses carbon-based organic compounds instead of metal ions to carry charges—scientists have introduced a molecule similar to the core of vitamin B2 to carry energy. Like other flow batteries, this one stores energy in two liquids and generates an electrical current as the liquids flow past each other, trading electrons across a membrane. Because the liquids can be housed in large tanks, these batteries have the potential to store days’ worth of energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar.”
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/07/chemists-create-vitamin-powered-battery
 
An article dated August 6, 2016 stated that “[University of  Toronto]…researchers say biologically derived organic molecules are a cheap and environmentally friendly alternative to metal-based electrodes. The majority of batteries contain two electrodes, a separator and an electrolyte. One of the electrodes, called a cathode, connects to the positive end of the battery and the other the electrode, the anode, connects to the negative. A current enters the anode and exits through the cathode. Between the two electrodes is an electrolyte, a liquid that is comprised of electrically charged particles. A separator keeps the two electrodes apart.
The trouble with current batteries is that they collectively use a ton of things like nickel and cobalt, which is really bad for the environment.”
 
“The idea of using fruit and vegetables to create power isn’t exactly new, as anyone who has attended a school science fair can attest. But the question of scale has always persisted. Researchers in Israel recently found that a potato boiled for several minutes produces ten times the power of a raw spud, while costing about one-tenth what people shell out for a AA battery. One potato, they found, could light a room for an entire month. One notable downside was that food-based solutions ultimately compete for space with crops produced to eat, a development that could raise prices.”
http://www.cantechletter.com/2016/08/university-toronto-researchers-create-vitamin-powered-battery/
 
“While bio-derived battery parts have been created previously, this is the first one that uses bio-derived polymers – long-chain molecules – for one of the electrodes, essentially allowing battery energy to be stored in a vitamin-created plastic, instead of expensive, harder to process, and more environmentally-harmful metals such as cobalt.”
http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/chemistry/vitamin-driven-battery-04077.html 
 
Past blog entries about Electrochemistry include:
05/04/2014    Electrochemistry – Redox Basics 05/07/2014    Electrochemistry – Balancing Redox Rxns
05/14/2014    Electrochemistry – Electrochemical Cells
05/18/2014    Electrochemistry – Electrolytic Cells
05/07/2015    Penny Battery
08/20/2015    Thermoelectrics
05/22/2016    MFCs Turn Urine into Electricity
08/14/2016    Hydroelectric Cell Phone Chargers
02/03/2017    Video: Search for the Super Battery
 
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Have a great weekend!
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    Marjorie R. Heesemann is a chemistry teacher with 15 years of experience who is now working to develop resources for the Chemistry classroom.

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