Swallowing a battery is not at all safe for the human body, but a battery made entirely of edible materials could be a solution. To power swallowable electronic medical devices, a team of scientists from the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) battery rechargeable and edible 0.65 volts, capable of providing more than one hour of electrical current.
The study, published in the scientific journal Advanced Materials, describes how the battery could be used in different applications such as indigestible devices for health diagnosis, food quality monitoring and edible robots. After loading, the battery is 0.65 volts and can provide up to 12 minutes of electrical current at 48 microamps, but over an hour at just a few microamps.
“Potential future uses range from edible circuits and sensors that can monitor health conditions to power sensors to monitor food storage conditions. They can also be used in children’s toys where the risk of ingestion is high due to the safety level of these batteries. In fact, we are already developing devices with larger capacity and reducing overall size. ” said.
Rechargeable and edible battery
Inspired by the biochemical oxidation-reduction reactions responsible for energy production in the cells of humans and other animals, scientists developed the rechargeable battery with an anode composed of riboflavin (vitamin B2) and quercetin cathode – the anode is the negative pole. battery and cathode is positive pole.
They also used a water-based electrolyte and activated carbon to increase electrical conductivity; nori seaweed was used as a circuit separator to prevent short circuits – the same as used in sushi. Finally, on a cellulose-derived support, they encapsulated the electrodes in wax and placed two edible gold leaf contacts.
While edible electronics is a growing field, using an edible power source for digestible devices is still a challenge. Therefore, the scientists claim that the study could open new doors for applications in the field.
Source: Tec Mundo
I’m Blaine Morgan, an experienced journalist and writer with over 8 years of experience in the tech industry. My expertise lies in writing about technology news and trends, covering everything from cutting-edge gadgets to emerging software developments. I’ve written for several leading publications including Gadget Onus where I am an author.
