Monday, August 15, 2005

Urine-activated Paper Batteries for Biosystems

Filed under: etc.

Ladies and gentlemen, today we are talking about the world's first battery powered by wee, no less! According to the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering of the Institute of Physics, the scientists from Singapore's Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have developed a novel way to generate electric current from wee. The paper battery, described in the research paper, one day could make it into a variety of diagnostic medical devices:

The battery unit is made from a layer of paper that is steeped in copper chloride (CuCl) and sandwiched between strips of magnesium and copper. This "sandwich" is then held in place by being laminated, which involves passing the battery unit between a pair of transparent plastic films through a heating roller at 120°C. The final product has dimensions of 60 mm x 30 mm, and a thickness of just 1 mm (a little bit smaller than a credit card).

Writing in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, Lee describes how the battery was created and quantifies its performance. Using 0.2 ml of urine, they generated a voltage of around 1.5 V with a corresponding maximum power of 1.5 mW. They also found that the battery performances (such as voltage, power or duration) may be designed or adjusted by changing the geometry or materials used.

"Our urine-activated battery would be integrated into biochip systems for healthcare diagnostic applications," says Lee. He envisions a world where people will easily be able to monitor their health at home, seeking medical attention only when necessary. "These fully-integrated biochip systems have a huge market potential," adds Lee.

A new direction in the battle to ease our dependence on foreign oil?

The press release...

The abstract...

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