Scientists have developed a revolutionary edible battery that could soon power children’s toys – it’s made from food and provides energy for us humans, but soon it may also be powering our electronic devices.
Researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology have developed the world’s first rechargeable battery made from food, making it completely edible. This unique property makes it possible for use in internal gastrointestinal diagnostic instruments, food quality monitoring, and edible soft robots.
“Potential future uses include edible circuits and sensors that can monitor health conditions, as well as powering sensors that monitor food storage conditions,” said Mario Caironi, coordinator of the Printed and Molecular Electronics Laboratory and principal investigator at the IIT Center in Milan, according to a press release.
Influenced by the biochemical reactions that occur in all living things, the scientists used riboflavin (vitamin B2) as the anode and the plant flavonoid quercetin as the cathode. The former is found in almonds, dairy products and meat, while the latter is found in capers, citrus fruits and green leafy vegetables.
The team also used activated carbon and water-based electrolytes to increase conductivity, nori (a roasted seaweed) as a separator to prevent short circuits, and food-grade gold foil as beeswax-covered electrodes.
The entire device operates at 0.65 volts and can produce 48 microamps for 12 minutes, meaning it’s safe for human ingestion but still provides enough energy for low-power LEDs.
“Given the safety level of these children’s toy batteries, they can be used in children’s toys where the risk of ingestion is high,” Chironi said.
The rechargeability of the battery adds to its potential advantages and environmental friendliness, with the research paper thereby stating that this feature “allows the battery to be reused where the application permits (eg, food monitoring), significantly reducing waste.”
Additionally, the team believes they can make edible batteries small enough to fit inside a pill. Cheroni noted that they are “already developing devices with greater capacity and reduced overall size.”
“This type of edible battery is also very interesting for the energy storage community,” adds study co-author Ivan Ilic. “With demand for batteries for children’s toys soaring, making them safer without using toxic materials Batteries are our challenge.”
“While our edible batteries cannot power electric vehicles, they demonstrate that batteries can be made from safer materials than current lithium-ion batteries. We believe they will inspire other scientists to create safer batteries for a truly sustainable future,” he continued.
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