Scientists develop sugar-powered batteries

Batteries are not ideal: they are expensive and toxic when thrown away. But a team from Virginia Tech has overcome these problems by developing a battery that is fueled by sugar: refillable, cheap and biodegradable.

Perhaps surprisingly, this is not the first sugar battery to be developed, but this one has a much higher energy density than the others so can last longer without being refilled. Current batteries are toxic and pollute the environment when thrown away. Sugar batteries would solve this problem. As Y.H. Percival Zhang, an Associate Professor of Biological Systems says: “Sugar is a perfect energy storage compound in nature… So it’s only logical that we try to harness this natural power in an environmentally friendly way to produce a battery.”

All batteries combine a fuel with air to generate electricity. But in this case the fuel is maltodextrin (a sugar made from partial hydrolysis of starch). The battery works by putting together enzymes in an unusual (non-natural) combination. In the enzymatic fuel cell, a pathway of enzymes strips all charged particles from the sugar to generate electricity. The battery needs a catalyst, which is normally expensive platinum. However, this battery uses cheap biocatalyst enzymes.

Zhang has also used synthetic enzyme pathways to create edible starch from plants that can’t currently be eaten and to develop a new way to extract hydrogen to power vehicles.

Amazingly, this new battery can also be refilled by simply adding more sugar to it. All enzymes and fuels that make up the battery are biodegradable. Zhang claims that in as little as three years this sugar battery could be powering your phone or video games. It is another example of how we can advance technology by using and improving what nature has to offer.