Using Sugar To Make Batteries?!
We live in an age where our smartphones are an extension of ourselves. For some, it’s the first thing they reach for in the morning and the last thing they put down at night. From checking emails, communicating with others, and even keeping track of our health, phones are involved in almost every aspect of our lives. One of our biggest pet peeves is when the battery dies in the middle of the day. Although lithium batteries have improved since their creation in the 90’s, they quite frankly cannot keep up with the pace of modern technology usage. According to Y.H. Percival Zhang, chief researcher of the department of Biological Systems Engineering of Virginia Tech, the future of battery technology lies in the development of greater energy storage and ecologically conscious design, with batteries that have the potential to hold ten times the energy of a lithium- ion counterpart.
CURRENT LITHIUM BATTERIES
Over the last decade solar and wind power have been the popular choice of the alternative energy market, utilizing lithium-ion batteries for energy storage. A surge in lithium-ion battery production has led to an 85% decline in prices, making energy storage commercially viable for the first time in history.
However, the widespread use of metal-catalysed batteries raises many concerns, primarily related to safety, toxic metal pollution and the availability of costly, limited, irreplaceable or rare metal resources, and continuous lack in energy storage capacities.
Newer batteries should focus on achieving:
- Enhanced energy-storage densities
- High levels of safety
- Fast recharge ability
- Biodegradability
- Small environmental footprints
which is exactly what Zephyr, our company dedicated to providing a replacement to under performing lithium batteries, has set out to do with Bio batteries.
HOW DO BIO BATTERIES WORK?
Zephyr bio batteries work by using Enzymatic fuel cells (EFCs). EFCs are electromagnetically devices that directly convert chemical energy into electricity using low-cost bio catalyst enzymes powered by fuels similar to living cells that utilize starch and glycogen as stored energy sources.
*Diagram of an enzymatic fuel cell(EFC)
Sugars are appealing fuels for EFCs because of:
- Abundance
- Renew ability
- Low-cost
- Non-toxic
- Safer storage and distribution
- Carbon neutral over the entire life cycle
In Zephyr, studies demonstrated maltodextrin as the preferable sugar to fuel the EFCs in comparison to glucose because of its 11% higher energy density.
*Energy densities of various battery types. “15% Maltodextrin”, is used by Zephyr
Enzymatic fuel cells containing a 15% (wt/v) maltodextrin solution have an energy-storage density of 596 Ah kg−1, while the energy-storage density of a typical lithium-ion battery is ~0.54 MJ kg−1 (that is, 150 Wh kg−1). For comparison, the energy-storage density on EFCs is 10 times that of the lithium battery. Using enzymatic pathways caused the production of energy using the 15% maltodextrin solution to rise. We can produce nearly 24 electrons per glucose unit of maltodextrin through a synthetic catabolic pathway that comprises 13 enzymes in an air-breathing EFC.The waste produced by the maltodextrin fuel consists of only water and electricity.
*Continuous power and current outputs for the 13-enzyme fuel cell.
ZEPHYR BIO BATTERIES USAGE
Our mission in Zephyr is to power:
- Portable electronics such as smartphones, laptops, and cameras
- Implants powered by the glucose supply found in blood
- home appliances like lighting, sound, and kitchen appliances
By simply pouring a 15% maltodextrin solution, Zephyr consumers utilize alternative battery technology in order to transition away from fossil fuel dependency.
CONCLUSION
Zephyr’s sugar-powered bio batteries embody all aspects of the next generation of environmentally friendly power sources, because of their many appealing features, such as high energy density, safety, biodegradability and low catalyst costs without the need for costly metals and rare earth elements.
Conclude on a “hopeful for the future” note!
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