Researchers
have constructed a textile-based, bacteria-powered biobattery. The aim of the
flexible battery is for incorporation into wearable electronic devices.
The
invention of the battery comes from Binghamton University, State University of
New York. The prototype can produce a sufficient level of power to operate a
typical wearable device. The technology behind the battery is a microbial fuel
cell.
A
microbial fuel cell is a type of bio-electrochemical system that drives an
electric current through using bacteria. The cell uses the types of bacterial
interactions found in nature. With the cell a chemical that transfers electrons
from the bacteria in the cell to the anode.
Most
microbial fuel cells are used for wastewater treatment. The Binghamton
researchers, however, have found a different application. The researchers
found, in contrast to traditional batteries, microbial fuel cells are an
effective power sources for wearable electronics. This is because the all
microbial cells act together as a biocatalyst to provide a stable enzymatic
reaction.
One
key design feature, and
something useful to the growing wearables market, is the ability of the battery
to continue to produce a consistent level of electricity and remain stable when
twisted and stretched multiple times.
Interviewed by
Controlled Environments magazine, lead researcher
Professor Seokheun Choi explains that his stretchable, twistable power device
could become the standard platform for textile-based biobatteries.
Professor
Choi explains: “There is a clear and pressing need for flexible and stretchable
electronics that can be easily integrated with a wide range of surroundings to collect
real-time information.”
The
researcher adds: “Those electronics must perform reliably even while intimately
used on substrates with complex and curvilinear shapes, like moving body parts
or organs. We considered a flexible, stretchable, miniaturized biobattery as a
truly useful energy technology because of their sustainable, renewable and
eco-friendly capabilities.”
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