Nanowerk July 29, 2022
Researchers in Switzerland have developed a disposable paper battery aiming to reduce the environmental impact of single-use electronics for applications such as point of care diagnosis, smart packaging, and environmental sensing. The battery uses Zinc as a biodegradable metal anode, graphite as a nontoxic cathode material and paper as a biodegradable substrate. To facilitate additive manufacturing, they developed electrodes and current collector inks that can be stencil printed on paper to create water-activated batteries of arbitrary shape and size. The battery remains inactive until water is provided and absorbed by the paper substrate, taking advantage of its natural wicking behavior. Once activated, a single cell provides an open circuit potential of 1.2 V and a peak power density of 150 µW/cm2 at 0.5 mA. As a proof of concept, they fabricated a two-cell battery and used it to power an alarm clock and its liquid crystal display…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Illustration of the water-activated paper battery… Credit: Scientific Reports volume 12, Article number: 11919 (2022)Â