A New Breed of Biobatteries Will Generate Power for Weeks

Imagine being able to power a battery with a few drops of dirty water instead of using cadmium or lithium. That’s the approach of researchers at Binghamton University in New York. And it’s more than just a drop of water, it’s its tiny inhabitants, bacteria. The inventor of the new bacterial biobattery is a big proponent of this new form of green energy that can power all sorts of sensors and small devices. They have been researching this area for years and the latest version of their technology is the most efficient yet.

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What is a bio battery?

A biobattery is a device that stores and releases energy through a metabolic process in which bacteria and enzymes break down raw materials such as glucose, releasing protons and electrons. In the past, we have already described this approach and the microbes (also called electrophoresis) that make it possible.

Bio-batteries made primarily from organic elements are Basically biodegradable We can provide solutions for creating inexpensive disposable devices. At the moment, bio-batteries are devices that can generate a small enough current to power LED lights or low-power sensors. However, it is expected to power wearables and IoT devices in the future.

Currently, the main types of bio-batteries are:

• enzymeusing enzymes to decompose raw materials.
• microorganismwhich uses bacteria such as E. coli to generate energy.

1 biobattery, 3 types of bacteria

Scientists at Binghamton University are working on the latter. In their case, they rely on new approaches to improve the efficiency of biobatteries. Until now, one of the issues that has prevented this technology from becoming mainstream has been battery life. This type of device worked in a lab environment, but was only usable for a few hours.

The new device, described by its developers as “plug and play,” Contains 3 types of bacteria Powers for several weeks.

bacteria maintained in three vertical compartmentsFirst, a group of photosynthetic bacteria produce nutrients for the underlying second layer of bacteria. Her second group of bacteria then produces chemical elements that facilitate electron transfer. Finally, on the bottom “floor” are electrogenic bacteria that generate electrical current.

The new biobattery is designed to: Stackable 3 cm wide square modules, thus multiplying their outputs. The developers of this technology believe that such devices will be needed in the near future as IoT devices and sensors become commonplace. Many of them are remote. Another option discussed for powering these remote sensors is triboelectricity.

origami bio battery

In science and engineering, each discovery or invention is often preceded by other incremental advances. In the case of Binghamton University’s new biobattery, its developers had already created other models. One of his earlier versions used two types of bacteria.But their most impressive model is probably the paper bio battery prototypethe original version released in 2015.

The model is Collapsible origami structure combining paper, cathode with nickel bath, anode with carbon layer and bacteriaRoughly the size of a matchbox, the origami bio-battery works with just a drop of dirty water. Since paper is an absorbent material, it didn’t even require a syringe or other device to introduce bacteria.

The main advantages of using origami structures are The surface area of ​​the paper is doubled, increasing power generation capacityThe energy gained was still small, but enough to power the biosensor.

So, in an emergency, the team could use these batteries to power disposable diagnostic kits that test water purity. Affordable.The estimated production cost of that initial model is 1 dollar 5 cents.

If you want to know more about the applications of bacteria beyond biobatteries, check out this article on Bacteria that Produce Biodegradable Plastics or this article on Bacterial Concrete. If your thirst for knowledge still remains, you can subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.

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