New technological trends: microbial bacteria-driven batteries!

　　According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation website, scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States recently said that they are currently developing a new type of bacterial battery that is only half the size of human cells and is entirely powered by microbial bacteria.

　　human cells

　　Professor Angela Belcher, a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, mixed harmless E. coli M13 bacteriophage with metallic cobalt and coated it on a stamped silicon membrane to create a soft micro-battery. Moreover, this kind of battery is suitable for mass production and does not require too much capital investment. In theory, this technology could turn any surface into an energy storage device, with applications from large computers to tiny cancer or heart disease detectors. Belcher said, "Using stamping technology to manufacture batteries is a very special idea. We can make the battery very small and can provide power for various micro sensors." As early as 2006, Belcher and his The partners have already created the first bacterial battery. Since then, scientists have continued to improve the battery, hoping to create other energy storage devices that store electricity in fabrics or containers.

　　M13 phage as vector

　　The latest research result of American scientists is to stamp a basic material (such as silicon) so that the M13 phage in the negative electrode and the metal cobalt in the positive electrode can be automatically gathered according to their corresponding electrodes and stamping modes. This means that the battery will be cheaper to make and more efficient. If silicon is used as the basic material, it is even possible to produce soft, bendable batteries. The bacteria-based battery holds about twice as much power as a traditional biological battery, Belcher said. Moreover, this kind of battery is very small, only about 4 microns in diameter. It only takes about an hour to produce an M13 battery. Of course, just a small battery doesn't hold much energy. However, a battery pack composed of multiple small cells can truly provide power. Belcher once built a button-sized M13 battery and used it in a laser pointer. After being recharged several times, it is still in use. Belcher believes that bacterial batteries should be rechargeable and should be more environmentally friendly than traditional batteries.

　　Ordinary laser pointer

　　Professor Angela Belcher explained that in nature, this bacterium releases excess electrons into iron-rich sediments, but there are not many such sediments in nature, so the electron content in this bacterium Always full, it needs a way to release electrons. If you place electrodes in this iron-containing sediment and connect them in a circle, the bacteria can release electricity. In this way, the most peculiar "power supply" in the world was born. Bacterial batteries need to be assembled at room temperature, must maintain a relatively neutral pH, and use as little of certain troublesome metals as lithium or cobalt. In terms of applications, Belcher believes that because bacterial batteries are very small, they will generally be used in small electrical equipment in the early stages, such as labs on a chip, medical implant equipment, etc. "Perhaps the biggest application for this technology will be medical monitoring to check for diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer." In theory, a small subcutaneously implanted device powered by an M13 battery could detect proteins produced by cancer cells .

　　Scientists have envisioned broad prospects for a new way of powering electricity through bacteria. They envision building a machine that would seek out and eat organic matter to generate electricity. Craig Winter, a pioneer in genetic sequencing, believes that microbial power methods could even reduce dependence on oil-producing countries. Patrick Burlawnik of the National Science Foundation said: "Although this model of bacterial power generation is still in its infancy, it has broad prospects." To prove the potential of this power supply method, the scientists also designed Researchers have used bacterial cells to power pendant toys and other devices. This experiment has important practical significance. In the past, scientists thought that bacteria could generate electricity only by relying on electrodes, but these filaments growing outside bacterial cells indicate that bacteria can generate electricity over long distances. In this way, thousands of bacteria can generate electricity to an electrode at the same time, producing 10 or even 15 times the amount of electricity originally imagined.

　　The first step of bacterial battery implementation object

　　Biologists predict that the 21st century will be an era when bacteria generate electricity to benefit mankind. Bacterial power generation can be traced back to 1910. British botanists used platinum as an electrode and put it into the culture solution of E. coli to successfully create the world's first bacterial battery. In 1984, American scientists designed a bacterial battery for spacecraft. The active materials in its electrodes were astronaut urine and live bacteria. However, bacterial batteries at that time discharged less efficiently. It was not until the late 1980s that there was a major breakthrough in bacterial power generation. British chemists asked bacteria to break down molecules in the battery pack to release electrons to move toward the anode to generate electricity. ■

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