A NEW battery-like device has been developed which opens the possibility that people could one day “recharge” mobile phones, laptops and other portable electronics in an unlikely way – with a fix from a sugary fizzy drink or even a shot of vegetable oil.
The device is said to be the first fuel cell capable of producing electricity with technology borrowed from the biological powerhouses that energise humankind and other living things on planet Earth. When further developed, these devices have the potential for replacing disposable and rechargeable batteries in a wide variety of consumer electronics and other products.
It is the first to be based on one of the microscopic parts of the billions upon billions of cells that make up the human body.
Just as we have internal organs such as the liver and the heart, cells that make up our bodies have internal structures known as organelles (little organs). For the new biofuel cell, scientists in the US chose one of the most amazing organelles – the mitochondria. Sometimes called the cell’s own powerhouses, mitochondria transform the calories in food into chemical energy that the body needs to sustain life.
Mitochondria use a chemical formed from the digestion of sugar and fats, called pyruvate, to make another substance called ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which stores energy until needed. Each day, the mitochondria in a typical person produce and recycle an amount of ATP equal to the person’s body weight.
This energy-producing system powered by sugar or fats opens the possibility of refuelling a laptop or cell phone with vegetable fats or common oils, according to Dr Shelley Minteer, a chemist with Saint Louis University in Missouri.
Biofuel cells are not new. Scientists have borrowed from Mother Nature to produce a variety of other biofuel cells that use enzymes, for instance, and bacteria to produce electricity. Fuel cells make electricity from the chemical energy in a fuel and oxygen in the air, or liquid oxygen. Fuel cells work much like batteries.
Unlike batteries, however, fuel cells do not run down or need a recharge. They produce electricity continuously, so long as fuel and oxygen are available. The fuel can be hydrogen, natural gas, alcohol or other materials.
Dr Minteer and colleagues described the development and successful lab testing of the first mitochondria fuel cell. The device consists of a thin layer of mitochondria sandwiched between two electrodes, including a gas-permeable electrode. Tests showed that it produced electricity using sugar or cooking-oil byproducts as fuel.
Other potential applications of mitochondria fuel cells include their use as power sources in wireless sensors for temperature monitoring, motion detection and monitoring the location of vehicles in a fleet.
The new biofuel cells could also serve as a power source for stamp-sized sensors designed to detect hidden explosives, the scientists said.
