A newly developed, water-powered disposable paper battery promises to make a big impact on single-use electronics — the temporary gadgets used in medical and industrial fields where electronic waste would quickly accumulate.
The battery the researchers demonstrated is biodegradable, made of sustainable materials, and cheap to put together. Moreover, it can be manufactured in different shapes and sizes as per requirement.
To give an idea of the power, a two-cell battery built using the technology was sufficient to power an LCD alarm clock. While it won’t be charging your laptop anytime soon, the potential is huge for low-power sensors and trackers.
“We present a printed paper battery designed to power single-use disposable electronics and reduce their environmental impact,” the researchers write in their published paper.
“The battery depends on a metal-air electrochemical cell that utilizations zinc as a biodegradable metal in the anode, graphite in the cathode, paper as a separator between the terminals, and water-based electrolyte.”
The battery, made of sodium chloride salt-expanded paper, can measure less than one square centimeter (0.15 square inch), and is based on printed ink: an ink consisting of graphite flakes and as the cathode (positive end). , while the other side of the paper contains zinc powder and acts as the anode (negative end).
A third ink, consisting of graphite flakes and carbon black, is printed on either side of the other two inks, connecting the positive and negative ends to the two wires. These are appended to one finish of the paper, plunged in wax.
After that, only a small amount of water, as much as two drops is needed. This dissolves the salts within the paper, releasing charged ions that then activate the battery during the trip. By connecting the wires to the electrical device, the circuit is closed, meaning that electrons can be transferred from the negative to the positive terminals.
With a steady voltage of 1.2 volts, the paper battery is near the level of a standard AA basic battery at 1.5 volts. According to experiments conducted by the team, the battery starts generating electricity about 20 seconds after adding water.
“This exhibition shows that in spite of its restricted power thickness contrasted with standard advances, our battery is as yet significant for an extensive variety of low-power gadgets and environment of things,” the specialists compose.
Although the efficiency decreases as the paper dries, it can be raised somewhat with more water. With extra water, the battery can still produce 0.5 volts two hours after first activation.
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This is a theoretical study for now, but the battery described in the paper is not very complicated to manufacture. The researchers say they want to improve the battery’s performance in the future and make it last longer.
“With expanding attention to the e-squander issue and the development of single-use gadgets for applications, for example, natural detecting and food checking, the requirement for batteries with low ecological effect is expanding,” the scientists compose.
“This shift from traditional performance-based figures of merit creates new opportunities for unconventional materials and designs that can provide a balance between performance and environmental impact.”
