Check Out New Batteries Made of Paper

A group of Swedish scientists have developed a new battery that doesn’t require metal to generate a charge, meaning the battery is lighter and safer to dispose.

Uppsala University’s Ångström Laboratory is the source of the research, which made U.S. news when it was published in the American Chemical Society journal this month. The batteries themselves are produced using paper fiber soaked with sodium chloride, which serves as an electrolyte.

The fiber itself was extracted from Cladophora algae, which are considered troublesome to the environment because they cause odors and reduce the quality of drinking water. So, manufacturing these batteries addresses two issues at once.

Cladophora algae may provide the foundations for the next wave of batteries. Photo: Flickr/PROYECTO AGUA

The reason this alga is valuable is that its cellulose (the chief constituent of all plant tissues and fibers) has a much larger surface area than normal paper, so when it is molded into paper sheets it becomes more porous. This allows it to hold and discharge electricity at a high rate, making it ideal for use in batteries.

The research was a collaboration of several scientists, explains Ångström’s Leif Nyholm. While he had been working on lithium-ion batteries and how they are conducted, Albert Mihranyan and Maria Strømme were testing the cellulose.

“Our first application was a potential controlled ion exchanger intended to be used for straightforward extraction of biologically interesting ions,” wrote Nyholm in an email to Earth911.com. “After combining our competences, though, we ended up with the battery.”

The team initially sees the batteries being used in place of Li-ion batteries, which are generally used for smaller electronics such as RFID tags and smart cards.

However, Nyholm believes the technology could be used for other types of rechargeable batteries and may be available on the market within three years.

While Li-ion batteries do not have the toxic material of other battery types, they do contain Lithium. Their increased use in electronics has led to debate about how to recycle them. Uppsala’s scientists have already stated that the materials used to make the new paper batteries are completely recyclable.