New York Aug 9 (IANS) Researchers have shown that a battery activated by spit has the potential to power point-of-care diagnostic applications in extreme conditions.
In a paper published in the journal Advanced Materials Technologies the researchers described how they created a high-performance paper-based bacteria-powered battery which generates power within minutes of adding saliva.
They created the battery by building microbial fuel cells with inactive freeze-dried exoelectrogenic cells.
"On-demand micro-power generation is required especially for point-of-care diagnostic applications in developing countries " said Seokheun Choi Assistant Professor Binghamton University State University of New York.
"Typically those applications require only several tens of microwatt-level power for several minutes but commercial batteries or other energy harvesting technologies are too expensive and over-qualified. Also they pose environmental pollution issues " Choi added.
The battery generated reliable power with one drop of saliva supplying on-board power that could be used by the next generation of disposable paper-based point-of-care diagnostic platforms.
"The proposed battery has competitive advantages over other conventional power solutions because the biological fluid for on-demand battery activation is readily available even in the most resource-constrained settings and the freeze-drying technology enables long-term storage of cells without degradation or denaturation " wrote the researchers.
Choi now wants to improve the batter s power density so that more applications can be powered.
"Now our power density is about a few microwatts per centimetre square. Although 16 microbial fuel cells connected in a series on a single sheet of paper generated desired values of electrical current and voltage to power a light-emitting diode (LED) further power improvement is required for other electronic applications demanding hundreds of milliwatts of energy " Choi said.
--IANS
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