There are more and more lamps that generate electricity from water sweet or salty. The latest example has emerged from Argentina and has won the gold medal at the International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva, in the Security category, which took place earlier this month. A small cylindrical contraption, fed with water and that does not generate any waste, generates enough light to be installed as emergency lighting in rooms and premises. It can even be used to light conventional rooms if several of these lamps are added.
Germán Nagahama Schell wanted to reformulate the invention of the galvanic cell or Volta battery, changing its original components for water. “My idea was a development to take advantage of a cell that does not contain no polluting element”, the inventor declared to the Clarín newspaper.
The energy produced to generate electricity originates from a chemical process: electrolysis. It works because there are three fundamental elements to produce it: a positively charged electrode, called the anode; another negatively charged electrode, called the cathode; and a driver, in this case: water.
But water, by itself, is not a great conductor of electricity and generally needs a new substance that stimulates the circulation of electricity: an electrolyte. Electrolytes can be acids, bases, or salts.
“The first experiments in history began with acid because it has a great oxidizing capacity, my development was based on improving that quantity and generating energy without needing elements other than the water itselfwhich does not have to have any additional features & rdquor ;, he explains.
Although his project did not get much support from the electronic engineers that Germán Nagahama consulted, he finally achieved the expected results. Several years of trials and tests were necessary to improve the design and rectify steps.
In his final version he built a cell with a magnesium core (the anode) covered in a cloth treated with salt and surrounded by a carbon fiber (the cathode). He changed the original shape creating a cylindrical lamp. By doing so, he ensured that the cell already had the necessary salts regardless of the water used or adding more substances to it.
The lamp that earned him the medal and that he hopes will function as a emergency system for hard-to-reach areasit measures 10 centimeters high and, at each end, it closes with 12 centimeter circles that contain six led lights and unscrew to “load” with water the cells. This model has autonomy for 15 hours and the cell degrades less if it is kept wet only while in use.
The medal and the diploma do not come alone, Nagahama hopes that the recognition and the Argentine and international patents that he has already obtained will become investments to produce your lamp and thus reduce the generation of polluting materials caused by conventional systems.
The battery does not leave harmful residues for the environment, since the magnesium oxide that makes up the cell is even used as a fertilizer, recalls the Argentine inventor, who hopes for a quick practical application of the lamp.
Remote places where electricity does not reach or isolated houses and with limited resources they can be the beneficiaries of this invention, which multiplies its effectiveness by adding several lamps, given that each of them does not currently offer a great light intensity.