Russian scientists have come up with a way to replace batteries with “micro power plants”

Scientists from misis (NUST misis) and colleagues from the Russian Academy of sciences have jointly created a unique silicon nanocomposite.
They believe that this research and development achievement will accelerate the development of “micro power plant” technology directly placed on the printed circuit board of electronic products. The results were published in the journal microporous and mesoporous materials.
Scientists believe that porous silicon structure is more and more used in microelectronic technology and biomedicine. One of its important characteristics is the uniform distribution of pores with different sizes in the whole material: from surface nanopores to macroporous frameworks.
In medicine, porous silicon membranes act as filters, such as for hemodialysis. In portable electronic products, they are used as electrodes of micro fuel cell, which is a promising hydrogen energy source and can be integrated into printed circuit board.
However, when contacting with the working liquid (water or weak alkaline solution), the nano porous silicon will be destroyed gradually. Scientists from misis (NUST misis) and iptm Ras have developed a unique technology to fundamentally improve the performance of porous silicon films by depositing graphene coatings.
Yekaterina gosteva, associate professor of semiconductor and dielectric materials science at nust misis, explains.
Due to the new method, the surface resistance of the silicon structure is reduced by hundreds of times, and the stability of the weak alkaline solution is significantly improved. In addition, due to the formation of additional bumps on the inner surface of the channel, the effective surface area of the material is more than doubled. As scientists explain, all of these greatly improve the characteristics of micro fuel cells and the durability of the expensive catalysts used in them.
In order to deposit the coating, the ethanol chemical vapor deposition method was used. According to the technology developer, the proposed method is characterized by the use of “sharp pressure drop” mode in the working cavity, which can ensure the deposition of graphene even in the nanopore closed layer.
The new technology is protected by Russian patent No. 2731278 on September 1, 2020. The research results were exhibited at the “2021 Archimedes” international invention and innovation technology exhibition in Moscow. In the future, the research team plans to adjust the technology to meet the requirements of industrial application.