Harvesting electricity from living plants using electrochemistry approach with the aid of photosynthesis process

• Main Author: Choo, Ying Ying
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: TP248.13-248.65 Biotechnology
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42639/1/24%20PAGES.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42639/2/FULLTEXT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42639/

Living plants have been proven to have a potential in generating electricity, which offers a green approach that harvest electricity from sources that are abundantly available. The principal idea is that organic matters of the living plants are used as the electrolyte with the combination of electrodes to generate electricity. The monitoring system (data acquisition system) for electrical potential measurement was first developed for the actual data collection of low voltage and current continuously. A comprehensive knowledge regarding the mechanisms of energy generation is found, which the electrochemistry process is accountable for its mechanism of energy production. The behavior of the ions flow in this electrode-plant system is modeled and illustrated with a detailed discussion to support the proposed model. Then, a new strategy to employ efficiently both solar energy and chemical energy simultaneously is introduced. By using the sun as the energy source and taking natural photosynthesis into account, it is hypothesized that the power production of the Living-Plant Fuel Cell (LFC) is increased. It is found that the electrical current output 43%, which is corresponding to the increment of 111% in harvested electrical power. The mechanisms of energy production of LFC based on electrochemistry and photosynthesis process is also modeled and illustrated. Overall findings provide a better understanding of the energy production mechanism in the LFC system. In addition, LFC is shown to have its ability to power up some low power electronic instruments such as Light Emitting Diode (LED), digital clock and calculator.