The lithium-ion battery that powers your MP3 player could eventually be replaced with a battery that runs on sugar. Sony announced on Thursday that it had developed a bio-cell battery that harnesses the energy in sugar to generate power, much the same way living organisms do.
It works by placing an anode in sugar-digesting enzymes with a cathode in oxygen-reducing enzymes, leading to an electrochemical reaction that yields electricity. In other words: sugar water in, electricity out. The cell yields 50mW of electricity, which is more than any similar-sized passive battery ever developed and enough in groups to power a small MP3 player.
Right now, the battery cells are cubes of an inch and a half on each on each side, with four of them needed to power a Walkman MP3 player. That means the batteries are many times larger than the player they power, but Sony has pledged to continue development of their bio batteries to boost output and durability so that they might present a practical alternative in the future.
A video demonstration of the battery in action, plus more technical details of its operation, can be found with Sony’s original press release.
