Check Out New Batteries Made of Paper
by Trey Granger
Published on September 29th, 2009
4 Comments
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.
- Nyholm, Leif. Angstrom Laboratory(09/25/2009). Email Interview.
Electricnick, The EV Revolution » Blog Archive » A Daily Jolt Of Electric Car News
posted on October 1st, 2009 at 3:03 am
[...] Paper? After hearing about Lithium Air, then Zinc and Sulfur, well what about paper? According to Earth911, a new battery type using paper fiber soaked with sodium chloride as an electrolyte and not metal [...]
Robert R. Holt
posted on October 4th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Interesting piece, marred by the growing careless use of algae (the plural of alga) as if it were a singular noun.
(Check it out in any dictionary.) You can no more say “this algae” than “this single-celled plants.” Please be a pusher of good english as well as good information in your postings.
Paper Thin Algae Battery Kills Two Birds With One Stone
posted on October 14th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
[...] While this new type of battery would likely initially be used as an alternative or replacement for lithium ion batteries, Gustav Nyström, a doctoral student in nanotechnology and the first author of the article, believes the technology could be used for other types of rechargeable batteries and may be available on the market within three years. [...]
Athena
posted on December 3rd, 2009 at 10:33 am
This is amazing! I think those batteries will really catch on.