A.J. Bandodkar
North Carolina State University,
United States
Keywords: green batteries, biodegradable batteries, sustainable energy systems
Summary:
Batteries represent the dominant technology for energy storage. However, present battery chemistries create waste streams that are difficult to manage, and most possess toxic components that limit their use in biomedical applications. Batteries constructed from biocompatible and/or biodegradable materials circumvent these disadvantages. Unfortunately, current examples of such batteries offer low operating voltages and modest energy densities. In this talk I will describe new materials, architectures, and operating principles that overcome these drawbacks to yield green batteries that for the first time offer performance comparable to commercial primary batteries. I will demonstrate how these green batteries can be used for broad biomedical and environmental sensing applications.