TECHNOLOGY NEWS: ELECTRONICS
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Batteries manufactured using the novel viral assembly technique would have an energy density substantially higher than conventional batteries.
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The cause of everything from the common cold to AIDS, viruses have a deservedly dreadful reputation. But a research team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; Cambridge, MA, USA) may have found a way to put one viral strain to good use: The scientists genetically engineered the virus to assemble a cobalt oxide nanowire that can function as an anode in a battery half the size of a human cell. The cobalt oxide used in the anodes boasts a higher storage capacity than the carbon-based negative electrodes used in conventional lithium-ion batteries. The M13 viral strain used to form the anodes is only capable of attacking bacteria and is therefore harmless to human cells.
In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team described the methods used to assemble and test the anode and electrolyte for the battery. To create the electrolyte, the group formed ultrathin multilayer films with ion transport capabilities. “To our knowledge, this is the first instance in which microcontact printing has been used to fabricate and position microbattery electrodes and the first use of virus-based assembly in such a process,” explain MIT professors Paula T. Hammond, Angela M. Belcher, and Yet-Ming Chiang in that publication.
The researchers will next focus their attention on developing a microscopic cathode for the battery—again recruiting viruses to create an assembly line. “Once we’ve altered the genes of the virus to grow the electrode material, we can easily clone millions of identical copies of the virus to use in assembling our batteries,” says Belcher. She explains that a battery built using the technique would be biocompatible and the research group is interested in integrating such batteries with biological cells. Batteries built using the technology also could be stamped onto most conducting surfaces—including onto flexible substrates such as fibres or flexible circuits. The research group anticipates that the batteries could be used for applications ranging from lab-on-a-chip devices to implantable medical devices and sensors.
