ARELLANO UNIVERSITY

Jose Abad Santos Campus

Basic Education Department – Senior High School
3058 Taft Avenue, Pasay City

Waste Leafy Vegetables Extract as Alternative Source of Electrolytes for

Battery

Group 1:
Abubacar, Noraimen T.
Basco, Christian Arnold
Dela Cruz, John Lester D.
Eusebio, Andrei D.
Liwanag, Mark Freddy R.
Orotea, Mark Lourence P.
Romero, Ken Angelo B.
Soriano, Raymark C.
Victoriano, Noel
Bala, Louie Airyelle V.
Dela Cruz, Kriszhel E.
Domingo, Denise Irah N.
Ferrater, Alexia Lyn
Ilano, Eunice A.
Macasimbar, Ana Farina
Samarita, Mary Joy L.
Abstract

Batteries consist of two electrodes with opposite charges connected by an electrolyte solution, which is
used to generate electricity when attached to a closed circuit. Electrolytes can also be found in organic
objects such as leafy vegetables. This research study aims to evaluate the potential of waste leafy
vegetables as an alternative source of electrolytes for batteries. Given the circumstances of this study, a
quantitative approach is used by the researchers, which is further reinforced by using the experimental
research design. This study adheres to the purpose of collecting the necessary data through trial and
error experimentation to determine the functionality of the waste leafy vegetables in acting as a battery
electrolyte. The result is expected to help in filling the needs of the people of alternative source of
electricity and repurposing excessive organic wastes.

Background of the Study

Organic wastes such as waste vegetables and fruits are naturally generated during

harvesting, screening, and transporting of vegetable and fruit products. According to Papio

(2021), in metro manila alone, it is estimated that 2,175 tons of food scraps are discarded on a

daily basis. About 52% of solid wastes are biodegradable food waste. Among these are wastes

generated by markets such as clippings of vegetables, which are wastes generated by cutting out

rotting and bad parts of a vegetable to prolong the shelf life. Furthermore, electricity, an

important resource for the daily life in a typical household, is also somehow not accessible to all

of the Filipinos. As stated by Botswick (2020) as of the year 2020, almost 30% of Filipino

citizens either can't access or experience brownouts. With these problems at hand, the

researchers decided to conduct a study that will aid in solving these aforementioned problems.

The researchers aim to achieve this by repurposing waste vegetables as components of an

alternative electricity source in the form of a battery.

Batteries, as defined by hymel (2013) are typically a collection of one or more cells whose

chemical reactions create a flow of electrons in a circuit. All batteries are made up of three basic

components, an anode, a cathode, and some kind of electrolyte, a substance that chemically

reacts with the anode and cathode, which is usually in liquid state. Anode, is the negatively

charged electrode, as such , electrons flow out from the anode, additionally the chemical reaction

between the anode and electrolyte causes a build up of electrons in the anode. While electrons

flow into the cathode, the negatively charged electrode. The chemical reaction in or around the

cathode uses the electrons produced in the anode and the only way for the electrons to get to the

cathode is through a circuit, external to the battery. Lastly, an electrolyte is the substance, often a

liquid or gel, that is capable of transporting ions between the chemical reactions that occurs at

the anode and cathode. The electrolyte also inhibits the flow of electrons between the anode and

cathode, causing electrons to flow easier through the external circuit rather than through the

electrolyte. The interaction of these three, in a form of a battery set up, in a closed circuit,

generates electricity.

Electrolytes are notably present in foods, especially fruits and vegetables. In line with the

statement of Leonard (2020), leafy vegetables, such as spinach, kale and colar greens are rich in

electrolytes such as calcium and magnesium. Considering this, the researchers decided to focus

on waste leafy vegetables as the primary raw material of the study, utilizing it's rich electrolytes

content as an alternative electrolyte for battery, this study, "Waste Leafy Vegetables as

Alternative Source of Electrolytes for Batteries," aims to advance scientific understanding of the

generation of electricity from leafy vegetable wastes, with the aspiration that this study will

provide people knowledge along with the technology, particularly for residents of rural regions
with the absence or instability of electricity, while having a source of leftover vegetables, to

reduce wastes while simultaneously produce electricity to aid their daily lives.

Statement of the Problem

Generally, this study will be conducted to examine the effectiveness of waste leafy

vegetables extract as an alternative source of electrolytes for battery

Specifically, this study aims to answer the following:

 What will be the optimal amount of waste leafy vegetable extract to make the batteries

commercially competent?

 How much voltage can be yielded by the use of electrolytes in terms of:

a. 3 volts?

b. 5 volts?

c.12 volts?

 What is the maximum duration by which the battery set up will be able to supply electricity

in terms of:

a. Hours?

b. Days?

c. Weeks?

Significance of the Study

 This study will provide additional information to the community regarding the use of

waste leafy vegetables as an alternative source of electrolytes for a battery.

The Community

Not everyone in our community can afford electricity due to a multiple of reasons

(namely environmental and financial factors). This study can provide people who have an access

to waste leafy vegetables a cheap and effective source of battery. Additionally, this study can

also provide an alternative use for waste leafy vegetables which, in turn, will help in reducing the

organic wastes accumulated by the community such as wastes from markets.

The Future Chemists

This study can provide new data regarding electrolytes, particularly in waste leafy

vegetables, that can be used in studies for aspiring chemists.

Other researchers: The result of this study may be used by future researchers as an important

source of information or reference and a guide in the conduct of similar study. This study will

also become a foundational basis where it can be enhanced and developed for a deeper and more

accurate future results.

The Future Researchers

 The result of this study may be used by future researchers as an source of information or

reference and a guide in the conduct of similar study. This study will also become a foundational

basis where it can be enhanced and developed for a deeper and more accurate future results.

Scope and Delimitation

The main focus of this study is to determine how much electric voltage can be produced

by a battery with electrolytes from the extract of waste leafy vegetables. This study aims to

develop another alternative source of producing electricity from the electrolytes of the extract of

waste leafy vegetables.

The study is delimited only to leafy vegetables that contains electrolytes which are needed to

generate the voltage of the battery. Through this, the researchers can allocate if it can light a

LED bulb and the other appliances with 12 volts requirement. However, this study excludes

appliances with high wattage for the battery is aimed only for alternative use.

However this study will focus on the amount of electrolytes required to light LED bulb;

experiments regarding this study will be conducted from February up until March of the year

2023 at Arellano University Jose Abad Santos Campus.

Theoretical Framework

This research was based on the study of Saheed et al (2018), fruits and other plant parts

that contains electrolytes could be used as an electrolytic solution for wet cell batteries.

Fruits were used as battery which acts like a wet cell that consists of a negative and positive

electrode with an electrolyte which conducts ions, also, copper and zinc metals acts as electrodes

while the citric acid content of the fruit acted as the electrolyte. Through tests, it was concluded

in that study that apple generated the highest voltage out of all the fruits tested, it was also

established that the higher the acidity and size of the fruit, the higher the voltage, also, the far

apart the electrodes inserted into the fruits, the higher the voltage using copper and zinc as

the best electrode over copper and steel or steel and zinc electrode.

Another study by Averion et al (2019) utilized another fruit, the coconut, the researchers

collected the coconut juice and fermented it to raise it's acidity. A battery set up was also

designed by the researchers, which us, the researchers decided to take inspiration with. This set

up lays out multiple containers for the electrolytic solution in a series, which is vital to make sure

that the voltage of the individual containers add up. The set up also utilized a storage in the form

of a lead acid battery, which, when charged, could supply a direct current and further increase

the voltage by using an inverter transformer which will also convert it into alternating current.

These aforementioned studies were the main foundation of this research study.

Conceptual Framework
 Process Output
Input
 reverse electrolysis  alternative source of
 Waste leafy vegetables electrolytes for battery
 store in 12v battery

The figure above shows the research inputs, which are the optimal amount of Waste leafy

vegetables extract, voltage of electricity generated, and Acidity of the extract from leafy

vegetables to examine the amount voltage it can produce. While the process contains the

preparation, to be conducted will be through experimentation, and collection of data. And the

outputs will be solutions and recommendations.

Definition of Terms

The following important terms are defined based on context or how they were used in the

study.

 Acidity- it is the value determined by the measurements by the pH meter.

 Anode- in this study, the zinc rod is referred to as anode.

 Battery- is an apparatus composed by dipping two opposing electrodes into an

electrolyte and connecting it to a close circuit encased in a frame body to power an LED.

 Cathode - in this study, the graphite rod is referred to as cathode.

  Electrodes- it is the two opposing rods dipped in the electrolytes and connected in a

circuit.

 Electrolyte- the researchers referred to electrolytes as contents of the waste leafy

vegetables.

 Fermentation- is a process utilized to increase the acidity of the waste leafy vegetables.

 LED or a light-emitting diode- it is used as the indicator and is aimed to be powered by

the electricity that is generated by the battery set up.

 Voltage- is the measured value collected from the battery set up using the voltmeter.

 Voltmeter - it is the instrument used to measure the voltage of the battery set up.

Methodology

This chapter reveals the research methodologies that the researcher will use to carry out

the study, including the research design, sampling strategy, development of the research

instrument to establish its validity and reliability, and data gathering procedures.

Research Design

The experimental method of investigation is the center of this study. This study aims to

determine the efficacy of using waste leafy vegetable extract as alternative source of electrolytes

for battery through laboratory examination. An LED lightbulb should be activated as an

outcome. The result of this study will benefit the community that has access to waste leafy
vegetables. Data collection from previous studies was carried out and then analyzed based on

existing parameters.

Research Instrument

Materials/Equipments:

In this study, the researchers prepared waste leafy vegetables. The researchers also used

voltmeter to know how much voltage can be yielded. To get the appropriate data, the following

materials are needed for this quantitative experiment: (Graphite Rods, Zinc Rods, 12V DC 3

watts light bulb, 12V5Ah/20HR lead acid battery, Containing Jars for fermentation and Blender).

Using alternatives in replacement of the stated needed materials in this study may be possible but

does not guarantee a result as potent as the result using the recommended materials and

equipment.

Data gathering Procedure

Collecting the materials/equipment

The raw material, waste leafy vegetables, are collected from markets around Pasay City. The

researchers also collected the necessary materials for building the battery apparatus such as

containers, zinc and graphite rod, copper wires, LED bulb, inverter, plastic bottles and lead-acid

battery, switch, nails and screws.

Set-up preparation

The set-up was made of the wooden case and the electrical components contained inside the

wooden case. The researchers used recycled woods and plywood secured with screws and nails

and reinforced with wood glue in assembling the wooden case, but the electrical components are

mostly purchased. Resembling a rectangular prism, the container is made to contain all the

internal electrical components as well as the plastic bottles which will act as the containers for

the waste leafy vegetable extract. The containers of the raw material, which is the waste leafy

vegetable extract, are attached into a 2×6 layout connected in a series circuit through a stranded

14 wire. One pair of rods are fixated into each of the containers and the remaining electrical

components such aa the lightbulbs are fixed into its supposed location. Lastly, the waste leafy

vegetable extract is then transferred into the containers, completing the set-up readying it for

testing.

Conducting the experiment

After the set-up preparation, the researchers then proceeded on conducting the

experiment. The researchers tested the battery if it contained voltage, it is crucial to the study that

the battery does not contain voltage, yet, to verify the veracity of the result.

The containers of the raw material with copper and zinc rods attached and connected with

stranded wire, which are then filled by fermented waste leafy vegetables. Then by the usage of a

voltmeter the researchers checked if the solution conducts current and is capable of producing

voltage.

References:
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https://www.upsbatterycenter.com/blog/electrolyte-battery-2/

 Shittu S.A., Ajagbe S.A., & Oloruntula R.F. (2018). Conversion of Fruit to Battery

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Electrolytic Cell Using Coconut (Cocos Nucifera) Water as an Electrolyte for Perimeter

Lighting

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 Averion, C., Mendoza, F.C., Ortiz F.j., & Balinado, F.J. (2019). Development of an
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Lighting
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