Biobattery facts for kids

A biobattery is a special kind of battery that gets its power from natural things, like organic compounds such as sugar. Instead of using harsh chemicals, biobatteries use processes found in nature to create electricity. Even though you can't buy them in stores yet, scientists and engineers are working hard to make them better and ready for everyday use.

How Biobatteries Work

Just like other batteries, biobatteries have a few main parts: an anode (the negative side), a cathode (the positive side), a separator, and an electrolyte. These parts are stacked together.

The anode and cathode are where electricity enters and leaves the battery. The anode is usually at the top, and the cathode is at the bottom. Electrons, which are tiny particles that carry electricity, flow out of the anode and into the cathode.

Between the anode and cathode is the electrolyte, which also contains a separator. The separator's job is to keep the anode and cathode apart so they don't short-circuit. This whole system allows tiny charged particles called protons and electrons to move around, which creates the electricity we can use!

Sugar Power!

One exciting type of biobattery is the sugar battery. Imagine a battery powered by something as simple as sugar!

Inside a sugar battery, the sugar is broken down at the anode. This process creates both electrons and protons.

Glucose → gluconolactone + 2 H⁺ + 2 e⁻

These electrons travel from the anode, through an outside wire, to the cathode. At the same time, the protons move through the electrolyte and separator to the cathode.

At the cathode, these protons and electrons combine with oxygen from the air to form water. This entire process releases the stored energy from the sugar as electricity. It's like a tiny power plant using sugar as fuel!

Batteries Made by Bacteria

Scientists are also very interested in using tiny living things called bacteria to make and store electricity.

Around 2013, researchers found that a common bacterium called E. coli could be a good candidate for a living biobattery. Its natural processes can turn sugar into energy, which then produces electricity. By changing some of their genes, scientists hope to make these bacteria even better at producing power. Bacterial biobatteries are exciting because they can actually generate electricity, not just store it. Plus, they might use less harmful substances than traditional batteries.

Another fascinating bacterium is Shewanella oneidensis. This bacterium can take in toxic manganese ions and use them as food. As it does this, it also creates an electric current! This current travels along tiny wires made by the bacteria themselves, called bacterial nano-wires. These networks of bacteria and their wires form a living electrical circuit. Besides making electricity, Shewanella oneidensis can also store electric charge.

In 2015, scientists showed that certain bacteria could "charge" and "discharge" tiny magnetic particles called magnetite. They used two types of bacteria: one that likes iron and one that reduces iron. When exposed to light, one type of bacteria, Rhodopseudomonas palustris, would take electrons from the magnetite, like discharging a battery. In the dark, another type, Geobacter sulfurreducens, would put electrons back onto the magnetite, recharging it. This research suggests that natural minerals could act like batteries in the environment!

What Can Biobatteries Be Used For?

Even though biobatteries aren't sold everywhere yet, many scientists and engineers are working hard to improve them.

Sony created a biobattery that could power a small MP3 player. In the future, Sony hopes to use biobatteries in toys and other small devices. Other research groups, like those at Stanford and Northeastern universities, are also exploring biobatteries as a new energy source.

Since human blood contains glucose (a type of sugar), some researchers are even looking into how biobatteries could work inside the human body. Imagine a tiny battery powered by your own blood sugar, helping medical devices! This idea is still being tested, but the research continues for both everyday devices and medical uses.

Why Biobatteries Are Great

Biobatteries have many cool benefits:

• They can recharge almost instantly, much faster than many other batteries.
• They can keep themselves charged if they have a steady supply of sugar or glucose. They don't always need an outside power source.
• They can be made using fuels that are easy to find, like sugar.
• They can store a lot of energy in a small space.
• They work well at normal room temperature.
• Some flexible paper versions could even be used inside the body as power sources.
• They are a clean and renewable energy source because they use non-toxic and non-flammable fuels.
• They are safe to use because they don't explode.
• They don't leak harmful chemicals.

Challenges for Biobatteries

Compared to common batteries like lithium batteries, biobatteries sometimes don't hold onto their energy for as long. This can be a challenge for long-term use or storing a lot of energy. However, scientists are constantly working to make biobatteries better so they can become a practical replacement for today's batteries.

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