“So what will this material do?” “Where will it be used?” “What benefit will it bring?”

It’s time to answer the questions.

Researchers have been working for some time on alternatives that support oxygen production.

A student named Julian Melchiorri, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Arts in the United Kingdom, created a model that mimics the oxygen production process of leaves through photosynthesis. working on a material made of silk managed to improve it.

This material, called silk sheet, consists of chloroplasts placed in a matrix of silk protein, in other words, a lifeless liquid environment in which many biological events take place. that is, of the organelles that perform photosynthesis occurs.

When the leaf comes into contact with light and water, it mimics the process of photosynthesis and can thus produce oxygen.

But the silk leaf It cannot produce food like true leaves. This reveals the aspects of the artificial leaf that need to be developed to mimic other different biological functions.

Also this silk leaf, light weight and low energy consumption Therefore, it can be used as an oxygen source that can help astronauts establish colonies on some planets such as Mars and long-term space missions.

Another use of this silk sheet is urban areas it could be. Julian Melchiorri, the developer of silk leaf, says the use of this material, especially on building facades and ventilation systems, can also help improve air quality in cities.

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