A newly developed disposable paper battery promises to make a big impact on single-use electronics. The battery that has been demonstrated by researchers is biodegradable(可生物降解的), made from sustainable materials, and cheap to put together. What’s more, it can be produced in a variety of shapes and sizes as needed.
To give an idea of the power, a two-cell battery made using the technology was enough to power an LCD alarm clock. While it won’t be charging up your computer anytime soon, there’s lots of potential for low-powered sensors. “We present a printed paper battery developed to power single-use disposable electronics and to reduce their environmental impact to the lowest level,” write the researchers in their published paper.
“The battery is based on a metal-air electrochemical cell that uses Zn as a biodegradable metal in the anode(正极), graphite(石墨) in the cathode(阴极).” The battery, made from sodium chloride salt-diffused(氯化钠盐扩散的) paper, can measure as little as one square centimeter, and is based on printed inks. All that’s needed, then, is a small amount of water, as little as two drops. This dissolves the salts within the paper, and then activates the battery as they travel. The battery starts producing power around 20 seconds after water is added, according to the experiments carried out by the team.
Although the performance decreases over time as the paper dries out, it can be topped up(补足) to some extent with more water. The researchers say they want to improve the efficiency of the battery in the future, and get it working for longer.
“With a rising awareness of the e-waste problem and the emergence of single-use electronics for applications like environmental sensing and food monitoring, there is a growing need for low environmental impact batteries,” write the researchers.
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