What is An Artificial Leaf

Artificial leaf uses solar energy that helps them split the hydrogen and oxygen gasses present in water. It is very safe for water as it does not leave any pollutants in the water. The artificial leaf consists of a chip which is a silicon-based device and is covered by chemical catalysts which help them in increasing the speed of the water-splitting reaction. 

When the solar energy collides with the chip, then a chemical reaction takes place which not only leads to the separation of hydrogen and oxygen but it also leads to the tearing apart of electrons and protons. The electron and proton stick on the chip and are used in making hydrogen gas. 

How do Artificial leaves work?

Artificial leaves include the following steps:

• As artificial leaves are silicon-based devices, they have semiconductors that help in making the electrons move in one direction when the sunlight falls on the semiconductors which leads to the formation of current. Then the current makes the hydrogen and oxygen split
• The hydrogen which gets apart is used in the generation of electricity and it can also be stored for using it in future
• The semiconductors are covered with chemical catalysts that help in increasing the speed of the reaction of water splitting 
• The main outcome that we get is water, this is the reason why the artificial leaf is referred to as the best source for generating energy

Need for Artificial Leaves

The needs for artificial leaves are:

• The main focus of using artificial leaves is producing hydrogen which is very useful and is used in varieties of sustainable technologies. It is very useful because the other techniques that are used for capturing hydrogen are bad for the environment as they lead to emitting many harmful chemicals
• Artificial leaves are very useful in the areas where there is a lack of electricity. There are still many areas where electricity is not consistent and there, artificial leaves play an important role as they make use of solar energy
• This also helps in storing energy which is acquired from power plants and can be used in case of emergencies like when the sun is there but not shining and providing the energy which is required for many purposes 
• Artificial leaves are very important for the countries which do not make use of the solar energy which they get from the sun. For example – India gets enough sunlight from the sun but is not able to make use of the sunlight for generating enough energy

Bad impact of Artificial Leaves

Artificial leaves have a bad impact on the environment as they release carbon dioxide in a huge quantity because they are not capable of taking all the carbon dioxide gas and even, they release carbon dioxide because of taking oxygen. The released carbon dioxide directly reaches the photoelectrochemical cell. On reaching the photoelectrochemical cell, it goes through the electrolyte of the cell. Then the carbon dioxide turns to bicarbonate anions and then goes through the membrane to reach the positive part of the cell, that part which produces oxygen. As the side of the cell is very acidic because of the process in which the hydrogen and oxygen are split. So, when the bicarbonate anions and acidic electrolyte meet, then carbon dioxide is formed which gets released by the gases of oxygen. For example – carbon dioxide gets fizzed up when baking soda and vinegar are mixed. 

Conclusion

The artificial leaf is a silicon-based device and it makes use of solar energy for splitting oxygen and hydrogen from the water. The extracted hydrogen is of great use as it can be used in many technologies. Artificial leaves are very important in the areas where electricity is the issue as they generate electricity by storing the energy received from the sun. It also has a negative impact on the environment as they emit a lot of carbon dioxide in the process when hydrogen and oxygen are separated. They lead to the emission of carbon dioxide which is harmful to the environment.