St. Louis: American scientists have invented “intelligent bricks” that save electricity and have demonstrated their success by burning LEDs for ten minutes with the help of such a brick.
According to a report in the latest issue of the online research journal Nature Communications, Dr. Julio D. Archie, an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Washington in St. Louis, and his colleagues found red bricks in a kiln. Collected vapors from a special organic polymer, which was then converted into an energy-storage device, the “super-capacitor.”
Kiln red bricks are commonly used for construction purposes in most countries around the world, including Pakistan. Their red color is due to a compound called “iron oxide” which is actually another name for “rust”; And that rust is the key to making these bricks capable of storing electricity.
This is the first time that these red bricks have been converted into power storage super capacitors.
Dr. Julio has been researching an organic compound called “PEDOT” for many years and has used it in various energy related works. Electricity can pass through this organic compound and this ability makes it useful in energy related matters.
Describing the recent success in his research paper, he wrote that in the first phase, red bricks were heated to 160 degrees Celsius and then placed in the vapor of Pedot at the same temperature.
This organic compound slowly accumulated in the fine pores of these red bricks. At 160 degrees Celsius, the iron oxides in the bricks caused the long molecular chains of the pods to form polymers. Thus, after a while, the surface of the bricks turned into a substance through which not only electricity could pass but also could be stored.
In the next step, these “smart bricks” were “charged” like a battery to save electricity. There was also a practical demonstration of burning an LED smaller than such a brick for ten minutes.
Scientists who have invented intelligent bricks say that each such brick is capable of storing electricity even after being charged and discharged ten thousand times.
It should be noted that this research is currently at an early experimental stage in which the basic principle has been proved in practice, however, Dr. Julio and his colleagues say that this method can be used on a large scale while storing energy. There will be very little extra cost involved in making “intelligent bricks”.
He did not say how much electricity would be saved in the walls of buildings made of smart bricks, but he claimed that if the technology matured and came into common use, every house would have its own “good” electricity thanks to smart bricks. Will be able to store in the walls