CNN Touts Spray-On, Bio-Virus, and Human-Powered Batteries

Forgot to charge your cell phone last night? Imagine that you could power it by walking. Weirder still, you might be able to just spray a new battery on.

Batteries are fast becoming smaller, cleaner and quicker; not to mention coming out in some very unusual forms. These groundbreaking new battery technologies have many excited about what’s in store for the battery industry in the years ahead, clearly evidenced by this article found on CNN’s home page.

Of note in the CNN article is the work of Angela Belcher of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This past April, Dr. Belcher and her team of scientists released a study showing that they could genetically engineer viruses to build both the positively and negatively charged ends of a lithium-ion battery.The new type of battery would come in the form of a thin film, and would be capable of charging anything from hybrid electric videos to laptops, iPods, and cellular phones. Not only would the bio-virus battery perform equal to or better than the standard lithium-ion batteries available on the market today, they would also be a much more environmentally friendly alternative.

“We’re letting biology help us work on solving those problems, solving what the next-next generation batteries are going to be,” said Dr. Belcher. “Because the viruses are living organisms, we had to use only water-based solvents, no high pressures and no high temperatures…..We’re using a biological template that’s already on the nanoscale.”

The future is bright for nanotechnology an the battery industry as a whole. Over the coming years, it’s likely that we’ll witness a new revolution when it comes to storing energy.