Researchers use proteins to develop organic batteries or replace 18500 battery

　　Tan Nguyen, a doctoral student involved in the project, said: "Currently, the trend in the battery field is to study how electrons are transported in polymer networks, and the beauty of peptides is that we can do this without changing the main chain geometry or major parts of the structure. "By controlling the chemical composition of the side chains in 3D, we can then systematically study the effects of changing different aspects of the side chains."

　　Current lithium-ion batteries cause harm to the environment, and because the cost of recycling is higher than the cost of production, discarded lithium-ion batteries often accumulate in landfills. Currently, there is still no safe way to dispose of such batteries, but the development of protein-based organic batteries could change that.

　　Dr. Karen Wooley of Texas A&M University, who led the research team, said: "The amide bonds on the peptide chain are very stable and therefore very durable and can be triggered during decomposition and recycling." Therefore, it is believed that peptides can eventually be used for storage Electric energy flow batteries and other fields. Furthermore, using this protein-like structure allows us to build on proteins already found in nature that can efficiently transport electrons, thereby optimizing this property to control battery performance.

　　The researchers built the system using electrodes made of carbon black composite materials and constructed peptides containing benzyl viologen or tetramethylpiperidine oxide (TEMPO). They connected benzyl viologen to a substrate of the anode (negative electrode) and used a TEMPO-containing peptide as the cathode (positive electrode). The resulting battery is suitable for low-energy applications such as biosensors.

　　Currently, Nguyen has synthesized several polymers with different configurations to study their electrochemical properties for use in organic batteries. If the right polymer is found, it could potentially increase battery capacity or be used in electric vehicles. Although organic batteries will require a long period of research before they can be commercialized, proteins can provide flexible and diverse structures that are expected to provide broad potential for a safer environment and sustainable energy storage.

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