Sustainable Human Powered Laptops

O ne Laptop Per Child, an organiza-

tion aimed to provide students in

impoverished schools all over the world,

with "rugged, low-cost, low-power,

connected laptops." .

While there are solar powered laptops

which run on freely available solar en-

ergy, not everyone may be able to afford

them. There was always the hope that

there would be an affordable way for

people to poorer and very remote areas to

be able to benefit from the uses of a com-

puter and there finally is because of the

pedal powered laptop in Afghanistan.

The Pedal powered laptop is unfolding an

educational revolution in remote rural

areas of Afghanistan by connecting school

children via a common server & giving

them access to computer aided education.

The system is set up so that anyone with

two legs would be able to power the

laptop. The computer model is called the

XO and uses a hand crank to power the

system. This laptop needs no additional

power sources at all. The prototype is

hooked up so that the hand crank genera-

tor is underneath the desk for the children

to use while they sit at their desk. In addi-

tion, they are using software that would

enable the students to study on a common

server.

The system that is being used is the

OpenWRT Freifunk router firmware. This

system provides a connection throughout

the classroom with no cable connections

and will also enable them to expand the

net-work to other classrooms as well. It

may even go past the school walls, which

would enable any child with this system in

their home to be able to connect as well.

Imagine a child that missed a day of

school because of being ill, still able to

attend class remotely.

The whole model is currently under obser-

vation and there are about 2,500 of the

prototype computers in circulation in

different parts of Kabul, Heart and

Jalalabad to create a successful learning

environment.

Source: www.olpcnews.com

This Issue : New Generation of Solar

Cells : Thinner and Lighter P2

Water Splitting for Green

Energy Storage P2

Nanotubes from Nature

Inspired Polymer P3

Fluorescent light : Removal of

air pollution and stinky odor P3

Comic sense P4

Infograph P4

Quiz P4

Bhutan is one of the few coun-

tries to have negative carbon

emissions.

The M. Chinnaswamy cricket

stadium in Bengaluru has be-

come the first cricket venue in

the country to have rooftop

solar power plant.

Tesla Motors unveils Model 3

Sedan—cost-effective and

100% eco-friendly, thus helping

the owners to reduce their car-

bon footprint.

Jairampur in Arunachal Pradesh

becomes the first town in the

North East region to have its

own Mini Thermal Waste

Treatment Plant .

Source : Internet

Trending

New Generation of Solar Cells : Thinner and Lighter

T he researchers at the Massachu-

setts Institute of Technology has

unveiled the lightest, thinnest and

flexible solar cells that can even be

placed on top of a soap bubble with-

out popping it. The breakthrough

came about when researchers realized

they could create the solar cell, the

substrate that protects it, and a protec-

tive overcoating in a single process,

rather than creating them separately

and joining them together later.

During the process, the team used a

flexible polymer called parylene as

the substrate and overcoating. Pary-

lene is the trade name for a variety of

chemical vapour deposited p-xylene

polymers used as moisture and di-

electric barriers. The primary light-

absorbing layer was made of an

organic material called Dibutyl Phtha-

late (DBP). It is produced by the

reaction of n-butanol with phthalic

anhydride. Parylene has been widely

used as a plastic coating to protect

biomedical devices and circuit boards

from the elements, making it perfect

for the task of protecting the solar

cells. The entire process was carried

out in a vacuum chamber at room

temperature without any harsh chemi-

cals unlike conventional solar-cell

manufacturing, which involves high

temperature and strong solvents.

This process could easily be repeated

using different substrate and protec-

tive layers, and even different types of

solar film which results in a solar cell

that is about a thousand times thinner

than an equivalent solar cell on a

glass substrate. The resultant flexible

film is just one-fiftieth of the thick-

ness of a human hair, about two

micrometers thick. During the genera-

tion of electricity, the efficiency of

the ultra-thin cells is comparable to

the older one.

While it’s possible to drape the new

solar cell over a bubble without

popping it, that might not be very

practical for most applications due to

the light weight of the material which

makes it easy to simply blow away.

However, thicker parylene films can

also be made using the same

technique, and these might be

possible to manufacture and directly

apply to variety of household items

and surfaces without adding extra

weight or bulk.

Source: www.inhabitat.com

Water Splitting for Green Energy Storage

R esearchers at the University of

Toronto finds an efficient way

to store energy from alternative

sources. They have designed the most

efficient catalyst for storing energy in

chemical form, by splitting water into

hydrogen and oxygen, just like plants

do during photosynthesis. Oxygen is

released into the atmosphere, and

hydrogen can be converted back into

energy using hydrogen fuel cells.

Today on a solar farm or a wind farm,

energy is typically stored in batteries.

But batteries are expensive, and can

only store a fixed amount of energy.

Therefore, discovering a more effi-

cient and highly scalable means of

storing energy generated by renew-

ables is one of the great challenges.

This new catalyst facilitates the oxy-

gen-evolution portion of the chemical

reaction, making the conversion from

H2O into O2 and H2 more energy-

efficient than ever before.

This new catalyst has three major fac-

tors in its favour in splitting hydrogen

from water- low cost, long life and

three times more efficient than state-

of-the-art catalyst . The new catalyst

is made of abundant and low-cost

metals such as tungsten, iron and co-

balt, which are much less expensive

than the catalysts based on precious

metals. It showed no signs of degra-

dation over more than 500 hours of

continuous activity, unlike other effi-

cient but short-lived catalysts.

Thus, it led to the discovery of oxy-

hydroxide materials that exhibit

electrochemically induced oxygen

evolution at the lowest overpotential

and show no degradation.

Initially, Tungsten, together with ac-

tive metals like iron and cobalt was

thought to be a better oxygen-

evolving catalyst, but it was difficult

to mix them all homogenously. This

research utilises a new way to distrib-

ute the catalyst homogenously in a

gel, and as a result, built a device that

works incredibly efficiently and

robustly. This work demonstrates the

development of improved water-

oxidation catalysts in the field of solar

fuels.

Source : www.eurekalert.org

Nanotubes from Nature Inspired Polymers

T he researchers at the Berkeley

National Laboratory have found

a special kind of precision manufac-

turing technique to create nanotubes

from nature inspired polymer.

Nanotubes are hollow tubes that

have diameters of only a few

billionths of a meter and have the

potential to be incredibly useful, from

delivering cancer-fighting drugs

inside cells to desalinating seawater.

They have discovered a family of

nature-inspired polymers, called

diblock copolypeptoids that, when

placed in water, spontaneously

assemble into hollow crystalline

nanotubes of almost same diameter.

The polymers are composed of two

peptoid blocks, one that’s hydropho-

bic one that’s hydrophilic. The two

blocks crystallize when they meet in

water, and form rings consisting of

two to three individual peptoids. The

rings then form hollow nanotubes.

These polymers have two chemically

distinct blocks that are of the same

size and shape which stack together

to form nanotubes up to 100 nanome-

ters long, all with the same diameter.

Cryo-electron microscopy images of

the nanotubes formed were captured

which showed that the diameter of

each tube is highly uniform along its

length, as well as from tube to tube.

Scientists find difficulty in creating a

lot of nanostructures with the same

trait, such as millions of nanotubes

with identical diameters. But, this

technique formed nanotubes of

almost same diameter ranging from 5

to 10 nanometers, depending on the

length of the polymer chain. If the

diameter of nanotubes and the chemi-

cal groups exposed in their interior

can be controlled, then the materials

crossing the nano-tubes can be

controlled leading to a new filtration

and desalination technologies.

Remarkably, the nanotube assemble

themselves without the usual nano-

construction aids, such as electro-

static interactions or hydrogen bond

networks. Hence, this work suggests

that flexible, low–molecular-weight

sequence-defined diblock copolymers

can serve as molecular tile units that

can assemble into precision

supramolecular architectures.

Source : www.tek-think.com

Fluorescent Light: Removal of air pollution & stinky odor

T he World Health Organization

recently accounted 7 million

deaths a year worldwide due to

declining air quality. There is always

a possibility to make the world a

better place by using chemistry.

The Scientist at the University of

Copenhagen have developed a seam-

less way to improve poor indoor air

quality. The breakthrough invention

utilizes fluorescent lightbulbs to re-

move pollution that escapes other air

purification methods. The fluorescent

system is unique because it can clean

air without producing hazardous

fumes or ozone-damaging emissions.

The Gas Phase Advanced Oxidation

(GPAO) system was invented by

Matthew Johnson, a professor of En-

vironmental Chemistry at the Univer-

sity. The system turns gaseous forms

of pollution into a solid state using

ozone and fluorescent lightbulbs.

Free radicals form and attack the pol-

lution, making it clump together like

bits of dust. Once the gaseous pollu-

tion becomes dust, it’s just as easy to

remove from the air as any other type

of dust particle—with electrostatic

charges.

This new method of filter-free air

purification has been tested and found

effective in removing emissions from

fiber glass production and from an

iron foundry, which emitted benzene,

toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene.

Not only does the GPAO’s ozone-

fluorescent partnership remove toxic

chemicals from the air, but it also

works on unpleasant odours—even

the toughest stinks associated with

wastewater treatment. The GPAO

system can tackle many different

types of pollution, resulting in air

quality that can make people healthier

and happier.

We know the natural ability of the

atmosphere to clean itself. Nature

cleans the air in a process involving

ozone, sunlight, and rain. Except for

the rain, GPAO did the very same

thing but sped up by a factor of a

hundred thousand. This development

is seen as an example of technology

mimicking natural processes, and

giving them a boost in efficiency.

Source : www.inhabitat.com

COMIC SENSE You came as strangers , you leave as friends!

We bid farewell to our beloved seniors

Dherya Mehta

Amit Kumar Aman

Rupesh Kumar

Kundan Kumar Gupta

Mayank Singhvi

Bhupendra Singh

Words are inadequate to express our gratefulness and appreciation for your commendable effort and support towards

Energy Club. Wishing you all a great success in all the future ventures of your life.

QUIZ 1. Name the polymer used by MIT researchers

recently in making thinnest and lightest solar

cells.

2. Which catalysts are used by researchers of

Toronto University for converting H2O into H2

and O2 efficiently ?

3. Which system is developed by the scientist of

University of Copenhagen for removing toxic

chemicals from air as well as unpleasant odor?

Send your entries to energyclub@mnit.ac.in

Winning entries to get exciting prizes.

CREDITS Abhishek Maddheshiya (II Year, Civil Engg.)

Abhishek Ranjan (II Year, Electrical Engg.)

Amit Kumar (II Year, Mechanical Engg.)

Shubham Kumar (II Year, Mechanical Engg.)

Vikalp (II Year, Civil Engg.)

Dr. Ing. Jyotirmay Mathur

Dr. Kapil Pareek

(Faculty Co-ordinators)

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for internal circulation within MNIT. All informations/articles have been compiled from newspa-pers, technical magazines and other sources. For quiz answers, suggestions, feedback, and any other article you want to read on some particular topic or want us to publish in our reader’s column then mail us to energyclub@mnit.ac.in or write to us on our blog http://www.theehblogmnit.blogspot.com

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