A team of researchers led by Professor Ikeda Tomiki of the "Tokyo Institute of Technology" has developed what could be called "the first plastic motor powered directly and only by light".
Unlike solar energy, which uses photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electrical energy, this type of motor converts light directly into mechanical energy, thanks to a special elastomer belt whose molecular structure increases or decreases. contracts, depending on the wavelength of the light.
Ikeda began working on the light-activated engine from 2003, after the discovery of a compound containing azobenzene, a plastic that contracts when exposed to ultraviolet light and resumes its original shape when exposed to visible light. The teacher's team then looked for the best way to use the material in an engine to directly convert light into motion.
To test whether the material could be used as a source of mechanical energy, the researchers used a polyethylene film to create an 0,08-millimeter thick belt, which they looped around a pair of wheels. By shining ultraviolet light on the belt near the small wheel and the visible light near the Ferris wheel, it came into action and began to spin the wheels. The largest wheel recorded a speed of one revolution per minute.
According to the researchers, the film remains 4 times more elastic than human muscle strength, and its strength remains unchanged even after repeated contractions and dilations every 7 seconds during 30 hours.
He hopes one day to see this material, why not in the field of automobiles and other motor machinery. The results of the research were published on July 19, in the German edition of the chemistry journal "Angewandte Chemie".
Source: ADIT Tokyo Shimbun
But what can it mean? .....