“This is all about a disposable, easy-to-use, and portable bio-battery that can generate power from bacterial metabolism,” said Choi. “This battery is ready to operate with human body fluids like saliva for on-demand power generation for other disposable low-power applications such as biosensors.”
The device can be used to power pregnancy tests, HIV tests, glucose sensors and other medical devices. This is a huge advantage in developing countries, where people may not be able to afford conventional batteries. Anyone with a mouth can use Choi’s paper battery.
In fact, any source of organic material will do the trick. If a user is feeling especially parched, he can pour a few drops of dirty water onto the battery to get it going.
The battery is made of just a few materials, including paper, carbon and printing wax. It can be manufactured cheaply and disposed of easily, compared with conventional batteries, which can leach toxic chemicals into soil and water supplies after they are thrown out.
Choi’s battery is kinder to the environment and, it has a long shelf life.
Choi has spent the last five years developing paper batters that fold up into origami shapes. He imagines linking batteries together to deliver more power to larger devices.
Said Choi, “The beauty of using paper is that you can easily fold and stack them to connect the batteries in series or in parallel to improve the performance.”