First Artificial Material That Follows Sunlight
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 Published On Nov 8, 2020

Scientists made the first artificial material that follows sunlight.

The stems of sunflowers move throughout the day so that their flowery heads always squarely face the sun, wherever it is in the sky. This phototropism (Foh-toh-TROAP-ism) helps the plants soak up maximum amounts of sunlight. Scientists had trouble copying this ability with synthetic materials. Until now.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles have just developed a material with the same type of sun-tracking ability. They describe it as the first synthetic phototropic material.

When shaped into rods, their so-called SunBOTs can move and bend like mini sunflower stems. This allows them to capture about 90 percent of the sun’s available light energy (when the sun is shining on them at a 75-degree angle). That’s more than triple the energy collection of today’s best solar systems.

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