The latest advance in battery technology comes from viruses working on the nanoscale. Researchers have constructed a lithium-ion battery, similar to those used in millions of devices, but one which uses genetically engineered viruses to create the negatively charged anode and positively charged cathode [BBC News]. The tiny workers are bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria but are harmless to humans.
Three years ago, the same researchers created viruses that collected negatively charged particles of cobalt oxide and gold, which “grew” on a film to create the anode. Now, the researchers have added to that achievement, tackling the trickier task of making cathodes. The work was more difficult because the material had to be highly conductive in order to be effective and most candidate materials for cathodes are highly insulating [BBC News]. The researchers engineered viruses that coat themselves with iron phosphate. Then they then latch onto carbon nanotubes to create a network of highly conductive material [ComputerWorld]. Iron phosphate is generally not a good conductor, but its properties change when it’s organized on the nanoscale.
In the study, reported in the journal Science, researchers say that the technology is suitable for a wide range of commercial applications. “It has some of the same capacity and energy power performance as the best commercially available state-of-the-art batteries,” [lead researcher Angela] Belcher said…. “We could run an iPod on it for about three times as long as current iPod batteries. If we really scale it, it would be used in a car,” she added. Such scaling is not even close, Belcher cautioned [Reuters].
Belcher says that her viral assembly line has some advantages over traditional techniques. “The advantage of using genetics is that things can be made better and better…. You are not stuck with a particular material; you have selection and evolution on your side” [BBC News], she says. In their experiments, Belcher’s team created viruses with billions of variations, and then used the survival-of-the-fittest principle to select those that best performed their tasks. One sticking point, she explains, was finding a virus that could latch onto carbon nanotubes. “That was the hardest part, since only two out of a billion viruses–each with a different genetic code and selected by the survival-of-the-fittest principle–picked up a nanotube on its tip” [EETimes], she says.
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Image: Yun Jung Lee and Dong Soo Yun. The battery, powering a green LED.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Eliminate the middlemen. Cells need a place to dump electrons from respiration. The nomina cycle is ingested oxidant (air, electron sink) and reductant (food, electron source), but an electrode would be entirely satisfactory as the electron sink. Short-circuit anabolism through a circuit and the bugs work for you without reproduction. Consider social engineering working the Baby Boomers. All the net proceeds you could ever want are harvested from minimal inputs by preventing the generator from misallocating its productivity.
April 4th, 2009 at 12:23 am
From a sustainable point of view this seems amazing to me. Since these are biological batteries i am going to assume they 1. Produce no toxins? and 2. They are 100% biodegradable as opposed to a normal battery that will just get land filled or incinerated? Am i right?
Can someone email me and answer this question?
April 5th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
No. There will be an accident asnd the world will turn to zombies. We will all die.
April 6th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
MMMM, BRAIIINNSSSS…