Turning Fruit Into Electricity

The Durian fruit, which grows in Southeast Asia, is infamous for having an overwhelmingly pungent odour but a delicious, rich taste. Scientists in Sydney though have discovered a new use for it though, having created a way of using the Durian fruit to store energy for rapidly charging our electrical devices. It’s a little more complicated than simply plugging your iPhone into the flesh of the infamously foul-smelling fruit though! In a new scientific paper by University of Sydney professor Vincent G. Gomez though, the author describes a novel method for turning biowaste from these fruits into “supercapacitors” which can hold large amounts of energy. Since the materials used to make batteries are in rapid decline, there is now a bigger demand for alternative sources of energy storage. These electrochemical supercapacitors have the ability to store large amounts of energy, but can also be refilled when empty, unlike regular batteries, which are useless once the chemical within has been depleted.

But what’s the difference between a supercapacitor and a rechargeable lithium ion battery like the one that’s in your iPhone? They work in a similar way, but supercapacitors like the Durian fuelled one don’t contain toxic metals and can be recharged indefinitely without “wearing out”. Supercapacitors consist of large metal plates which are coated in a porous substance such as activated charcoal, or indeed the even more porous flesh of the durian fruit. These porous, or absorbent, qualities work just like a sponge, allowing a greater charge to be absorbed and stored within the capacitor. The only problem is that it is still quite an expensive exercise, but if the researchers can find a way of bringing it into the mainstream with a relatively low cost, it could be a huge boost in our fight against environmental unsustainability. "Converting food wastes into value-added products will not only improve the overall economy, but also reduce environmental pollution," the researchers wrote in their paper.