In the industry solar energy Even objects in deplorable conditions are useful. Particularly, old lead bulletswith which it is possible to obtain an important material, as recently observed in Germany.
He poor state of conservation of the bullets It was not an impediment to such a purpose in the land of the influential intellectual Goethe. It is that the same ones, which date back to the 17th centuries y XVIII, were converted by scientists into a key compound for the solar energy of the future.
This was reported in a study published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science. The team of Jülich Research Centerwhich is part of the Helmholtz Association —Germany’s largest research organization—released its findings on March 25.
From toxicity to clean energy
The article is titled Upcycling bullets into solar cells converts lead waste into a green energy source (“Recycling bullets to turn them into solar cells transforms lead waste into a source of green energy”, in Spanish).
There is indicated a recycling process that allows the conversion of the very ancient lead bullets into perovskite solar cells. Perovskites are a family of materials that have outstanding potential for high performance and low production costs in solar cells.
Discovered in 2009, this compound is a very good absorbent. To reach him, the team used the aforementioned ammunition. It was contaminated with waste carbon, oxidation and metallic impurities.
These apparently negative aspects served to test the method in a raw material extremely difficult to refine.
How the recycling process was done
The experts—led by Dr. Mykhailo Sytnyk— transformed the degraded lead of bullets into high purity lead iodide. This is a necessary ingredient to make some of the perovskite solar panels more auspicious in the current panorama.
This ingenious experiment reuse of toxic waste It seeks to improve energy performance while aiming to reduce costs.
To achieve this, researchers They melted the bullets and later remodeled them into electrodes.. They then placed them in a mixture of acetonitrile with dissolved iodine while applying an electric current.
Thus they obtained lead iodide with a highly high purityat the same time that they reduced both the use of reagents and the production of lead-contaminated wastewater.
Then, with a technique known as «reverse temperature crystallization» the yellow powder was used to fruiting perovskite crystals. For this, the heat favored the formation of crystalline structures and molecules.
In conclusion, we obtained devices with an efficiency of 21%. Certainly competitive percentage in the energy field, according to the authors – among them Balázs Imre, Yanxue Wang, Zhenni Wu, Jiyun Zhang, Jens Hauch, Christoph Brabec and Ian Marius Peters.
Ultimately, the job scientific demonstrated that hazardous waste from yesteryear can be transformed into resources for clean energy. More specifically, in high performance materials for solar cells.
“By combining electrochemistry with selective purification, we demonstrate a scalable path towards circular materials in photovoltaics, where waste streams help drive the energy transition«, detailed Marius Peters in his LinkedIn.
