If the world one day sees a boom in electric cars and renewable energy, people will need
more efficient batteries than are currently available. Now, researchers say a glow-in-the-dark dye used to track chemicals in cells could offer a solution.
The chemical is boron-dipyrromethene, otherwise known as BODIPY, and it consists of a set of carbon rings linked to a boron atom and two fluorine atoms. BODIPY glows under "black" light. Chemistry researchers use it as a marker to see reactions or identify where biological systems take up other substances, such as cadmium.
In the new study, a team of chemists at the University at Buffalo tested BODIPY's power-generating abilities with a special type of battery called a reduction-oxidation battery (or redox). The researchers found that small amounts of the dye added to a solution of acetonitrile could make a battery that can be charged and recharged 100 times without losing its ability to store energy efficiently. [Top 10 Inventions That Changed the World] https://www.livescience.com/56919-glow-in-the-dark-dye-could-power-cars.html
