Researchers have found that blue dye in wastewater can power cells

According to the foreign media theVerge report, there are many sayings about lithium and cobalt in battery materials, but some chemists believe that the future battery can be powered by a commonly used dye. This fuel is methylene blue, which has a strong sapphire color. Although the fuel looks pretty, it becomes a harmful substance when it infiltrates the wastewater from the textile mill.

Anjula Kosswattaarachchi, a Ph.D. student in chemistry at the University of Buffalo, worked in textiles at the Institute of Nanotechnology in Sri Lanka, so she is very familiar with the pollution of methylene blue.

During the University of Buffalo, Kosswattaarachchi studied a liquid battery called a “mobile battery” and she also participated in a project dedicated to removing harmful substances from wastewater. At the time, she came up with the idea of ​​combining these two concepts, and since then has been working on whether methylene blue wastewater can provide energy for these liquid batteries.

The research is still in its early stages, and the research team has not yet conducted research on real wastewater, but it may indeed be a two-pronged approach. In response, theVerge talked to Kosswattaarachchi about why methylene blue is a problem and how it can be a battery solution. The following are the main access content of theVerge:

Q: Tell me about methylene blue. Is it very common? Is it poisonous? Why use it if it is toxic?

A: We use it because it produces a specific color. It is one of the most commonly used fuels. It can even be used as a drug when the dose is appropriate. But this proper dose is difficult to obtain, and in this case it becomes toxic.

It can lead to diseases including cancer and genetic mutations. It also causes damage to the environment because the dye is easy to see even at very low concentrations. So when it is added, the penetration of sunlight is blocked, which damages photosynthesis. It may be the most studied dye when it is studied how it is removed from water.

Q: So your idea is to use methylene blue-containing wastewater in mobile batteries, right? Instead of extracting dye from water, is it better to reuse water to power the battery?

A: Yes.

Q: Can you explain what the mobile battery is?

A: Simply speaking, there are two external containers containing a liquid electrolyte. The electrolyte is pumped through the center and a chemical reaction occurs to power the battery. This is a relatively new area of ​​research, but the advantages of mobile batteries are safety. They are liquids, so they won't catch fire. Containers can be large, so you can power a lot on a massive scale. They can store energy for longer periods of time.

Q: Where will methylene blue be added?

A: Methylene blue is part of the liquid we are going to store and pump into the container. Normally, you must add salt to the solution to get a chemical reaction. Methylene blue already contains salts in the wastewater.

Q: So what did you find in the experiment?

A: We made a small battery with methylene dye added to the brine in the experiment. It can be used 50 times on a single charge. In addition, it is quite stable.

We calculated that when methylene blue is used as part of the battery, we can produce 9.6 kJ per liter. In fact, methylene must be combined with another material, so we are still studying this material. In addition, we still need to use real wastewater samples to carry out the test. This is the next thing to do.