Solar Cell UV protection? Use Red Onions!
Bio based materials can protect Solar Cells against UV radiation
A Turku University Report:
Solar cells are prone to UV-induced degradation and are most often protected against it by petroleum-based films, such as those made of polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Research in materials engineering seeks to find alternatives to oil-based plastics from bio-based materials, one of which is nanocellulose. Nanocellulose is made by breaking down cellulose into nanoscale fibres, which can then be treated in different ways to gain UV protection.
A recent study by the University of Turku and Aalto University in Finland and Wageningen University in the Netherlands found that nanocellulose dyed with red onion skin extract provides very effective UV protection. The nanocellulose film protected 99.9% of UV radiation up to 400 nanometres. This UV filter outperformed even the commercial PET-based UV filter, which was selected to the study to represent the market standard.
“Nanocellulose films treated with red onion dye are a promising option in applications where the protective material should be bio-based,” says Doctoral Researcher Rustem Nizamov from the University of Turku.
The study compared the durability and properties of four types of protective films made from cellulose nanofibers. The nanocellulose films were treated with red onion extract, lignin, and iron ions respectively, all of which have been found to have good UV-blocking abilities in previous research. The film treated with the red onion extract proved to be the most efficient in blocking UV radiation …. more
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