Virus battery could ‘power cars’
Friday, April 3rd, 2009
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Viruses have been used to help build batteries that may one day power cars and all types of electronic devices.
The speed and relatively cheap cost of manufacturing virus batteries could prove attractive to industry.
Professor Angela Belcher, who led the research team, said: “Our material is powerful enough to be able to be used in a car battery.”
The team from MIT in the US is now working on higher power batteries.
Scientists at MIT used the viruses to build both the positively and negatively charged ends of a battery, the cathode and anode, the journal Science reports.
A battery typically has four key components – the anode and cathode, an electrolyte that flows between them, and a separator to keep the anode and cathode apart.
Essentially, a battery turns chemical energy into electrochemical energy when an electron flow passes from the negative end to the positive end through a conductive chemical, the electrolyte.
Researchers 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.
Related articles
- MIT builds battery from bacterial virus, humans to power machines by 2012 (engadget.com)
- Virus battery could ‘power cars’ (news.bbc.co.uk)
- Charge your batteries in seconds (isiria.wordpress.com)
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