Who would have thought that bacteria can actually be used to produce energy? Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have disclosed that lithium-air batteries can be enhanced by making use of a genetically-modified virus in the battery cells’ electrode wire. This discovery lead them to finding a beneficial option for a cheaper and more environment-friendly energy producing resource.
The study was derived from the lightweight capability of lithium-air battery. In the traditional design of this battery type, lithium ions flow between a negatively charged anode and the positively charged cathode. Lithium is oxidized at the anode and the cathode reduces the oxygen, taking away the need for heavy internal materials commonly used in other battery types. Lithium-air is another form of lithium-ion.
In the publication Nature Communications, the MIT team describes their journey in using modified viruses to make a battery’s cathode. Years earlier, the MIT team has discovered that there are viruses which can create an anode by themselves, coating their bodies with cobalt oxide and gold to form an element similar to nanowire. In order to match the virus’ anode-building capabilities, MIT researchers led by Professor Gerbrand Ceder and Michael Strano have studied ways to genetically engineered viruses that can create cathodes. Their study gave way to the artificially-made viruses which cover themselves with iron phosphates to create a network of highly conductive elements.
Since viruses bind easily to each other, they interconnect as nanowires, along which electrons can travel along. As a result, energy is created at a faster rate.
Incorporating carbon nanotubes increases the potential of the virus-enhanced battery. Lab tests from MIT show that the batteries with the new cathode can be charged and discharged at least a hundred times without losing their capacitance. Currently, the prototype is designed as a typical coin cell battery.
MIT called the virusM13. It is taken from a common bacteriophage which infects bacteria but is virtually harmless to humans.
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Image Source: Discovery
