Converting atmospheric humidity into electricity? The Lyubchyks are making history with CATCHER project

At the beginning of the year, Professor Svitlana Lyubchyk and Professor Andriy Lyubchyk were mentioned in an article published by El País about the potential of the CATCHER Project, financed by the European Innovation Council, in the development of renewable energies. The article, entitled “Tras el sueño de Tesla de generar electricidad a partir del aire” is part of the Science section of the newspaper.

The article talks about Nikola Tesla's dream of producing electricity from the air, and how the Lyubchyk´s researchers are now making that dream a reality through CATCHER, which aims to develop a new process that converts atmospheric humidity into electricity. However, the project is based on technologies that are very different from those Tesla used in his experiments, based on nanotechnology and nanomaterials.

At this moment, the project has already reached a point where it is possible to generate, through an 8x5 cm plate, around 0.9 volts of electricity in a laboratory with approximate humidity of 50%. This amount of energy is comparable to the power of an AA battery. In the short to medium term, the project's objective is to increase the efficiency of the hydroelectric material, so that it can be compared to the amount of electricity produced by photovoltaic cells of the same size.

In the long term, the objective is to explore the possibility of using this technology in ways similar to those of solar panels: in large-scale photovoltaic parks or as a source of energy for individual use in buildings.

The article also mentions the SSHARE project, also funded by the European Innovation Council, which studies the possibility of real application of hydroelectricity cells for heating and cooling system in buildings.

Svitlana Lyubchyk teaches in MEGI Lusófona

El País