Indian scientists have discovered a UV-sensitive substance on silk cocoon membranes which converts light into electricity, a finding published on 24 February in Nature Scientific Reports. They say it has opened up the possibility of designing a bio-solar battery for medicine and also has potential applications in the development of third-generation dye-sensitive solar cells.
Researchers at IIT-Kanpur, Delhi Technological University, Defense Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, and the Solid State Physics Laboratory (Defense Research and Development Organisation) have shown how a pupa in a silk cocoon senses light.
Flavonoids are found in most fruits and vegetables and the researchers demonstrated the role of the particular flavonoid (called quercetin) by connecting the cocoon (wild silkworm species of Antheraea mylitta, commonly called Tasar silk) with an electrode and shining light on it.
The study is a continuation of an earlier work in which the team found that silk cocoon membrane has an inherent ability to sense the change in temperature and humidity of the surrounding environment and convert it into electricity
According to Alok Bajpai, a psychiatrist at IIT-Kanpur and one of the authors of the study, by tapping into the properties of silk cocoon, a bio-solar battery could be designed for therapy of anxiety, chronic headache etc.
“If silk-based mesh is able to utilize the moisture and salt from the human skin and convert it to a micro-current, it can serve as a personalized biofeedback mechanism and relaxation device and an alternative to transcranial direct current devices that are being tested to ameliorate depression and anxiety. These would be essentially low-cost due to abundance of silk,” Bajpai concluded.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)