Silk Leaf (2014)
Inspired by natural mechanisms and physical phenomena, Julian Melchiorri conducted laboratory experimentation in order to explore the potential for making devices that photosynthesize and their possible applications.
Silk Leaf is the first outcome of this exploration path. It is the first prototype which introduces the potential impact that photosynthetic devices could have on our everyday life.
It is made of a biological material mostly composed by silk protein and chloroplasts. Silk Leaf absorbs CO2 and produces oxygen and organic compounds thanks to the photosynthetic ability of the stabilized chloroplasts inside silk protein. Any visible light and water is needed to enable the reaction. Having the necessity to provide water to the chloroplasts to enable the photosynthesis, another embedded technology to deliver water to the chloroplasts has been introduced, inspired to how natural leafs work. The water could also remove chemical residues and sugars through osmosis, introducing the idea to collect it for energy generation. The level of oxygen generation could be optimized depending on many factors, from the material composition to the quantity and efficiency of chloroplasts into silk. Recent scientific publications shows nanobionic interventions on chloroplasts increasing their photosynthetic efficiency by 49%. This and other research on genetic modification could allow a dramatic improvement of their efficiency. Due to: 1) the many benefits of Oxygen and CO2 absorption 2) the low energy consumption 3) its modularity, Artificial Leafs could be used in many applications were the level of CO2 are high or Oxygen is needed : inside ventilation systems, free form surface for interiors, together with the lighting, space exploration ...
