From Chemical Gardens to Fuel Cells: Generation of Electrical Potential and Current Across Self‐Assembling Iron Mineral Membranes1. Issue 28 (12th May 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Barge, Laura M.; Abedian, Yeghegis; Russell, Michael J.; Doloboff, Ivria J.; Cartwright, Julyan H. E.; Kidd, Richard D.; Kanik, Isik
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie international edition. Volume 54:Issue 28(2015)
• Page Start: 8184
• Page End: 8187
• Publication Date: 2015-05-12
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201501663
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1433-7851

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>We examine the electrochemical gradients that form across chemical garden membranes and investigate how self‐assembling, out‐of‐equilibrium inorganic precipitates—mimicking in some ways those generated in far‐from‐equilibrium natural systems—can generate electrochemical energy. Measurements of electrical potential and current were made across membranes precipitated both by injection and solution interface methods in iron‐sulfide and iron‐hydroxide reaction systems. The battery‐like nature of chemical gardens was demonstrated by linking multiple experiments in series which produced sufficient electrical energy to light an external light‐emitting diode (LED). This work paves the way for determining relevant properties of geological precipitates that may have played a role in hydrothermal redox chemistry at the origin of life, and materials applications that utilize the electrochemical properties of self‐organizing chemical systems.</p> </abstract>