The salinity difference between fresh water and salt water could be a source of renewable energy.
However, power yields from existing techniques are not high enough to make them viable. A solution to this problem may now have been found. A team led by physicists at the Institut Lumière Matière in Lyon (CNRS / Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1), in collaboration with the Institut Néel (CNRS), has discovered a new means of harnessing this energy: osmotic flow through boron nitride nanotubes generates huge electric currents, with 1,000 times the efficiency of any previous system. To achieve this result, the researchers developed a highly novel experimental device that enabled them, for the first time, to study osmotic fluid transport through a single nanotube. Their findings are published in the 28 February issue of Nature.
When a reservoir of salt water is brought into contact with a reservoir of fresh water through a special kind of semipermeable membrane, the resulting osmotic phenomena make it possible to produce electricity from the salinity gradients. This can be done in two different ways: either the osmotic pressure differential between the two reservoirs can drive a turbine, or a membrane that only passes ions can be used to produce an electric current.
Concentrated at the mouths of rivers, the Earth’s osmotic energy potential has a theoretical capacity of at least 1 terawatt — the equivalent of 1,000 nuclear reactors. However, the technologies available for harnessing this energy are relatively inefficient, producing only about 3 watts per square meter of membrane. Today, a team of physicists at the Institut Lumière Matière in Lyon (CNRS / Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1), in collaboration with the Institut Néel (CNRS), may have found a solution to overcome this obstacle.
Their primary goal was to study the dynamics of fluids confined in nanometric spaces, such as nanotubes.
Drawing inspiration from biology and cell channel research, they achieved a world first in measuring the osmotic flow through a single nanotube. Their experimental device consisted of an impermeable and electrically insulating membrane pierced by a single hole through which the researchers, using the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope, inserted a boron nitride nanotube with an external diameter of a few dozen nanometers. Two electrodes immersed in the fluid on either side of the nanotube enabled them to measure the electric current passing through the membrane.
Using this membrane to separate a salt water reservoir and a fresh water reservoir, the team was able to generate a massive electric current through the nanotube, induced by the strong negative surface charge characteristic of boron nitride nanotubes, which attracts the cations contained in the salt water. The intensity of the current passing through the nanotube was on the order of the nanoampere, more than 1,000 times the yield of the other known techniques for retrieving osmotic energy.
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Osmotic power
- Osmosis breakthrough: New battery uses river salt to generate electricityon April 25, 2024 at 6:24 am
The new semipermeable membrane extracts more osmotic energy from salt gradients, like those in estuaries, generating electricity efficiently.
- New Membrane Technology Converts Saltwater Gradients into Poweron April 24, 2024 at 5:00 pm
An improved membrane (yellow line) dramatically increased the amount of osmotic power harvested from salt gradients, like those found in estuaries where salt water (left tank) meets fresh water (right ...
- This salt battery harvests osmotic energy where the river meets the seaon April 24, 2024 at 10:55 am
Estuaries -- where freshwater rivers meet the salty sea -- are great locations for birdwatching and kayaking. In these areas, waters containing different salt concentrations mix and may be sources of ...
- Salt battery harvests osmotic energy where the river meets the seaon April 24, 2024 at 5:23 am
Estuaries—where freshwater rivers meet the salty sea—are great locations for birdwatching and kayaking. In these areas, waters containing different salt concentrations mix and may be sources of ...
- Revolutionizing Renewable Energy: Innovative Salt Battery Efficiently Harvests Osmotic Poweron April 24, 2024 at 5:00 am
A new semipermeable membrane doubles the osmotic energy output in estuaries, showing potential for sustainable power generation. Estuaries — where freshwater rivers meet the salty sea — are great ...
- Researchers pioneer sensor multiplexing for real-time decoding of different plant stresseson April 23, 2024 at 6:25 am
Science X is a network of high quality websites with most complete and comprehensive daily coverage of the full sweep of science, technology, and medicine news ...
- Researchers pioneer nanosensor multiplexing for real-time decoding of different plant stresseson April 22, 2024 at 4:59 pm
SA is a crucial plant hormone for growth, development, and stress response to pathogens, temperature, drought, salinity, metals, UV light, and osmotic stress ... By harnessing the power of plant ...
- A Non-EU Rule of Law Commissionon April 17, 2024 at 1:15 am
In March, the European Parliament decided to sue the European Commission over a quid pro quo exchange of European Union funds with Hungary for support of Ukraine EU accession. This lawsuit marks a ...
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- New Membrane Technology Converts Saltwater Gradients into Poweron April 25, 2024 at 9:23 am
In a recent paper published in the journal ACS Energy Letters, researchers from the Anhui Agricultural University and Guangxi University developed a semipermeable membrane that captures and transforms ...
- Osmosis breakthrough: New battery uses river salt to generate electricityon April 25, 2024 at 6:24 am
The new semipermeable membrane extracts more osmotic energy from salt gradients, like those in estuaries, generating electricity efficiently.
- This salt battery harvests osmotic energy where the river meets the seaon April 24, 2024 at 10:55 am
Estuaries -- where freshwater rivers meet the salty sea -- are great locations for birdwatching and kayaking. In these areas, waters containing different salt concentrations mix and may be sources of ...
- Salt battery harvests osmotic energy where the river meets the seaon April 24, 2024 at 5:23 am
Estuaries—where freshwater rivers meet the salty sea—are great locations for birdwatching and kayaking. In these areas, waters containing different salt concentrations mix and may be sources of ...
- This salt battery harvests osmotic energy where the river meets the seaon April 24, 2024 at 5:03 am
In these areas, waters containing different salt concentrations mix and may be sources of sustainable, “blue” osmotic energy. Researchers in ACS Energy Letters report creating a semipermeable ...
- A Rational Approach to Constipationon April 22, 2024 at 4:59 pm
Osmotic laxatives draw water into the bowel because they are hypertonic, essentially flushing the colon. Examples of osmotic laxatives include milk of magnesia (which also softens stools), sodium ...
- Energy and the Environment Newson April 14, 2024 at 5:00 pm
In these areas, waters containing different salt concentrations mix and may be sources of sustainable, 'blue' osmotic energy. Researchers ... Pyrite, Also Known as Fool's Gold, May Contain ...
- Harnessing energy stored in water from raindropson December 11, 2023 at 7:21 am
This energy circulates with water around the globe and transfers into other forms of energy. But most of the energy – for example, osmotic energy, stored in water is not exploited yet. Imagine if we ...
- Why Is Energy Efficiency Being Ignored?on December 2, 2022 at 3:21 am
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I write about innovation, finance, energy, climate and sustainability. The world is wasting too much energy. Inefficient vehicles and ships ...
- What Is An Osmotic Fragility Test?on November 30, 2022 at 11:22 am
An osmotic fragility test is a blood test which works to see if red blood cells have a tendency to break apart easily. Two conditions that can cause this to happen are called thalassemia and ...
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