Biodegradable Plantain Pith for Galvanic Cells

Abstract

A number of locally available tubers/yams were studied as an electrolytic material for low cost environment friendly Galvanic cell. The cell was fabricated by sandwiching tissues made out of different types of tubers/yams slices between parallel Zn and Cu plates. A preliminary study revealed that cells made with plantain pith show comparatively better performance among the tested electrolytic materials. The performance of the cell was investigated by varying the separation between the electrodes and also by performing various treatments to the electrolytic material such as boiling and chopping after boiling. Best battery performance was obtained for chopped plantain pith after boiling. Stability of the battery fabricated with chopped plantain pith after boiling was tested by measuring the light intensity of a normal white LED with time. Results revealed that it is possible to light up LEDs for more than 500 hours provided the electrolyte is prevented from drying.