Artificial sunflowers can bend towards the light

By fabricating special materials into thin structures, scientists have created "tiny stalks" that can bend towards the light source, providing a basic foundation that can significantly improve efficiency. of a range of future solar technologies.

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and Arizona State University refer to their system as a sunflower-like multidirectional tracker.

Artificial trees have the ability to follow the light source of US scientists.

Biologically, any joint movement in response to specific changes in the environment is described as a strong behavior.

Chemists have had difficulty making flexible materials and structures that have special mechanisms to respond to changes in light intensity or temperature fluctuations.

But nature has a more complex behavior from the perspective of directing the movement of organisms in a good way and away from threats. Sunflowers are proof of that.

The `` chasing '' actions of the Sun, which are useful for things like photovoltaics, are most effective when bathed in a dense light of radiation hitting their surfaces, rather than from an angle. shallower.

In fact, compared to the rays from an overhead lighting source, the light hitting an angle of about 75 degrees carries 75% less energy.

To solve this problem of skewed energy density, the team turned to gels and polymers capable of responding to light or heat.

A number of different materials have been chosen as candidates worth investigating, including hydrogels containing gold nanoparticles, light-sensitive polymers and a type of liquid-crystal elastomers dipped with light-absorbing dyes. .

When targeted by a laser, the tiny artificial stems responded quickly to the warmth of the light, shrunk on one side and expanded on the other to make the thread twisted and tilted. toward the laser.

The researchers assembled a series of tiny artificial plants and submerged them in water. The team then determined the amount of light converted into heat by measuring the steam that their setup created.

Variations in steam volume indicate that these artificial plants collect energy at up to four times the slope of the slope compared to a flat, flat surface.

The researchers say their device is likely the solution to any system that loses its efficiency due to the motion energy source.

The work is thought to be useful for a range of devices such as adaptive receivers, smart windows, homemade robots, solar sails for spacecraft, as well as detection and tracking of strong emissions. strong telescope etc .

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