So today we are talking about Sweating Solar Panels. That’s right you heard me some Solar Panels that need antiperspirant… or actually, they don’t because it’s a benefit so let’s jump into it…
Back in 2019 a group of materials scientists at UT Austin developed a polymer hydrogel that takes water vapor out of the air and then when reheated can release the water. And this latest in material’s science topic is breaking down how that is possible.
So if you remember from the explanation of materials science, polymers are long-chain molecules. In polymers, covalent bonds connect a lot of small molecules to form the larger molecule, the polymer. In this materials science innovation, the polymer the scientists used was a hydrogel.
What are Hydrogels?
“billes hydrogel” by charlotte henard is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Hydrogels are three-dimensional networks of hydrophilic polymers. Hydrophilic means that it really likes water. So hydrogels attract water molecules and then they can absorb and hold many times their weight in water. One of the most popular hydrogels is hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is widely used in skincare and biomedical implant applications. Another hydrogel that is used in skincare is alginate.
Dehydrated hydrogels look like a collapsed 2D grouping of polymer chains. When hydrogels come in contact with water the polymer network swells up from 2D to 3D. The hydrogels behave kind of like a giant polymer sponge. And with additional additives, the way the polymer takes up the water and how much water it takes up can be increased.
Hydrogels Supporting Solar Panel Functionality
The research groups at UT Austin and Hong Kong Polytechnic coated the bottom of solar panels with a polymer hydrogel. The purpose of the hydrogel on the solar panels was to take water vapor out of the air at night when it is humid and cool. The hydrophilic polymer network expands and retains the water like a sponge at night. During the day the sponge reheats and releases the water it absorbed at night as water vapor. This creates a “sweating” like functionality on the solar panel to cool it down and increase the energy conversion efficiency.
Other Applications for this Polymer Hydrogel
While the group of researchers at Hong Kong Polytechnic used the hydrogel to cool down solar panels the group of researchers that originally developed the polymer at the University of Texas at Austin developed it to condense water vapor from the air and turn it into drinkable water.
While both applications are great for this new material let me know down in the comments below what you think the better use for this invention is clean drinking water or to improve the efficiency of the solar panels so that they can produce more clean energy?