Algae Could Be the Key To Ultra-Thin Batteries

MikeChino writes "Algae is often touted as the next big thing in biofuels, but the slimy stuff could also be the key to paper-thin biodegradable batteries, according to researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden. Uppsala researcher Maria Stromme and her team has found that the smelly algae species that clumps on beaches, known as Cladophora, can also be used to make a type of cellulose that has 100 times the surface area of cellulose found in paper. That means it can hold enough conducting polymers to effectively recharge and hold electricity for long amounts of time. Eventually, the bio batteries could compete with commercial lithium-ion batteries."

Comments

green tech

[timmarhy]

i wish other industries could make such wild claims and have everyone believe them.

Re:green tech

[greentshirt]

I don't understand why he gets modded troll for this comment, he's right.

I'm tired of reading incredible claims that are just not justified by the science.

When it's done by easy to hate industries like big pharma or big oil, we all jump on it, we should show the sobriety required to do the same when it's from friendlier industries. If anything, these claims hurt the industry by setting up unreal expectations and eventually earning it a reputation of big promises that never deliver.

Re:green tech

[ushering05401]

He's modded troll because he is projecting some sort of faith in these press releases on to the rest of us. Reading green tech/energy content is kinda like reading optimistic sci-fi - you know - gee, wouldn't it be nice.

Even if the tech is viable, the IP situation in the Western World dictates a long road from conceptualization to delivery. Simply having a story posted doesn't mean anyone is buying into it... Just means we won't be as surprised as everyone else if it turns out to work.

Re:green tech

[Kral_Blbec]

I dont think he meant everyone as "everyone on slashdot" but everyone as in "everyone in the media and public"

Re:green tech

[Anonymous Coward]

Stop kidding yourself. You WANT to believe.

Oh, and,

you don't need to see his identification...

Re:green tech

[skine]

Even if the tech is viable, the IP situation in the Western World dictates a long road from conceptualization to delivery. Simply having a story posted doesn't mean anyone is buying into it... Just means we won't be as surprised as everyone else if it turns out to work.

So... Just like every other technology-related article on Slashdot?

Re:green tech

[Abcd1234]

MRAM, "Spintronics" and Quantum Computers, Inkjet-printable circuit boards, anything involving carbon nanotubes...

"Green tech" is hardly the only industry guilty of making wild claims.

But hey, why not take the opportunity to take a pot shot as those pesky environmentalists, eh? If anything, it's always worth a few modpoints here on Slashdot...

Re:green tech

[timmarhy]

fail. carbon nanotubes and printable circuit boards have atleast been produced in a lab. they aren't far fetched at all, and they aren't constantly claiming they will "save the world".

Re:green tech

[Abcd1234]

Yeah, bullshit, buddy. Nanotubes are touted as next generation batteries, circuit boards, solar cells, bullet proof armor, space elevator cables, and god knows what else. They're practically a magical panacea if you believe researchers.

As for printable circuit boards, yup, you got me there. They're manufactured in the lab... kinda like algae-based power sources.

Re:green tech

[Have Brain Will Rent]

I don't get the troll mod either. The GP is, however, wrong in thinking that other industries don't get to make such wild claims and have people believe them. Take, for example, the fast food industry. The claim they make is on all those billboards showing a delicious, luscious burger and fries. The reality is quite different. Or the politician industry whose members make incredible claims, which people seem to actually believe, and then deliver something quite different altogether. And of course there is the operating system industry....

Re:green tech

[coaxial]

The thing is though, I don't know any company, let alone a university research lab, that's making outrageous claims about what could be achieved today. It's always at least 10 years down the road.

Now excuse me, I've got to go read up on all the the groundbreaking work being done on space elevators. I think there's something that can climb a nylon rope 10 feet now. What a wonderful time to be alive!

Re:green tech

[smallfries]

It's almost as if scientists are pressured by universities to make long-term claims in understandable language, rather than precise short-term claims in technical language. Kind of like it is part of their mission to promote public understanding of science, and one of the criteria they are considered on when funding is allocated.

But if you have an axe to grind against "green tech" then go ahead and pretend it is unique to science with environmental impact.

Re:green tech

[Interoperable]

It's usually not the industry/scientists' fault. It's the science journalists. They're the ones who take good research that's making cautiously optimistic projections for the possibilities of new technologies and turn it into "Scientists say they invented new technology that will abrogate our responsibilities!"

Re:green tech

[phobafiliac]

I agree with your post for the most part, but the bit about the fast food industry making false claims with their billboards is a bit a of a stretch, At one point in my life I worked in fast food and I can tell you it is entirely possible to make the food look as good as the menu pictures and advertisements. It all depends on who is cooking. I for one made the food look like the pictures (it wasn't that difficult). What separates fast food from, say, politicians is that highschool kids don't care what they are doing. Politicians tend to tell out right lies.

Re:green tech

[Alpha Soixante-Neuf]

It seems to me that apart from the headline the only objectionable sentence is this:

The key to this new battery turned out to be an often bothersome green algae known as Cladophora.

The rest of TFA is speculative and, to my mind anyway, worth the 30 seconds it took to read. Without this one definitive sentence claiming this as more than a new thread to follow, it's just a piece about a potential new avenue into cellulose batteries.

While I definitely agree that bold claims do hurt their industries with unreal expectations, I know I usually am more forgiving than I would be to large industries like pharma or oil. It's not a fair or educated position, but I often attribute that kind of overzealousness in these articles to optimism and enthusiasm, whereas if it's a press release from a huge corp. I see it as manipulative and marketed. That's probably an unfair ideological position and I try to stay aware that I have that bias, but I don't feel I'm totally out to lunch feeling that way in general.

I always appreciate it when people point out these discrepancies, but I think there is a legitimate reason why it occurs. We should make note where it happens, but I don't feel like getting angry at the people who may have overstated how far along they are in achieving some of these goals. If it takes an outlook that makes them feel they're closer than they are to keep plugging away so they, or the scientists after them finally do make a breakthrough, I'm more than willing to tolerate the fact they tend to minimize the difficulties between where they currently are and where they claim they are heading.

Key word...

[Anonymous Coward]

"Eventually". And that assumes that it's economically feasible, of course.

Re:Key word...

[Anne Thwacks]

"Eventually" in a scientific/Academic context means "You cant prove its imposssible, and I am looking for funding"

Linguistically, it means "after the current conditions have changed beyond all recognition, and most probably after I am dead and cant be blamed for getting it wrong". It does not mean "technically feasible in the near future" in any context what ever. It is a term used to imply that this is not news, and can safely be ignored here.

BSG

[Kethinov]

Sweet! So that means when we find the Algae Planet, it'll solve our food AND fuel problems! Why steal Tylium from the Cylons when you've got algae?

Re:BSG

[nacturation]

I was thinking next we'll be hearing about biogenic weapons made from algae. When will it end?!?

Re:BSG

[Anonymous Coward]

...can also be used to make a type of cellulose that has 100 times the surface area of cellulose found in paper. Not to mention the super-absorbent toilet paper we could make.

Re:BSG

[Firehed]

Now that's an idea my behind can get behind.

Re:BSG

[Dekker3D]

lots of surface area means it'd burn quickly, if it's made of a substance that'll burn in the first place. it's algae... i think it will. flamethrower fuel or new type of fire bomb? soak it in some kind of oxidizer, and you'll have quite a flash fire.

Re:BSG

[budgenator]

Cladophora grows in my garden pond and it pretty amazing actually (once you get past the annoying as hell part), once it sticks to something and dries that's it it almost impossible to get off and strong as hell. Thinking along your lines, I'd go with Solid Rocket motors. I've always thought it might make a really interesting paper.

Re:BSG

[Anonymous Coward]

We have already found the algae planet. It's Earth. Next to bacteria, algae is the most ubiquitous organism on Earth.

no we need that planet to dial the Destiny

[Joe The Dragon]

no we need that planet to dial the Destiny

Smell?

[Anonymous Coward]

What the hell do you mean "smelly algae"? If you've ever smelled a car battery you should know better than to criticize algae.

Does anyone remember this?

[Mortaegus]

A few years back I remember hearing about a bacteria that was being breed to produce electricity. It ate really nutrient-rich mucky dirt and produced electricity, and the structure of the bacteria was similar to a nerve cell branching out to other cells and carrying the current. They were trying to make a battery out of it. But for the life of me I could only find stubs of articles on it, and nothing that said anything about viability or even gave a measure of what has been achieved. Anyone else heard about that work? Wonder if the conductivity of these bacteria would be genetically added to the battery bacteria to improve the flow of electricity? Maybe the projects should be married.

Re:Does anyone remember this?

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you flunk Conspiracy 101? It was suppressed by Big Oil (TM) - just like this current one will be.

Re:Does anyone remember this?

[wizardforce]

Geobacter Is capable of doing precisely what you describe. The bacterium extends electrode like pili into its environment and degrading various materials ranging from hydrocarbons to Uranium salts. However, Geobacter creates an electrical current in a very different way than these algae batteries would. The algae battery looks like it uses the cellulose as a supportive structure in rather than using biological processes to generate an electrical potential.

Next step, the Matrix

[hcg50a]

This sounds like the first step in human batteries, ala The Matrix.

Re:Next step, the Matrix

[paul248]

Don't even bother trying to find a connection between reality and The Matrix. The machines already had fusion power.

Re:Next step, the Matrix

[Have Brain Will Rent]

Not to mention that "The Matrix" human batteries would run afoul of the laws of thermodynamics - you simply could not make a human being generate more electrical energy than it takes to keep them alive.

Re:Next step, the Matrix

[maxwell demon]

And of course the machines would just have had to send solar power stations into space to get as much solar energy as they want, even with a darkened sky. Not that whatever they used to darken the sky would have remained in the atmosphere for very long time. And even if there's no way to harness solar power any more, there's still geothermal energy.

Of course only very stupid humans would block all sunlight from Earth. Because unlike machines, our energy ultimately comes to 100% from the sun. Not to forget the oxygen we are breathing.

Re:Next step, the Matrix

[drinkypoo]

The humans were originally meant to be the compute nodes upon which the matrix ran, but that plotline was deemed to be too complicated and metaphysical for mainstream audiences, plus it didn't provide an opportunity to milk some product placement dollars out of Duracell.

Re:Next step, the Matrix

[Interoperable]

Ha ha, a poster called "maxwell demon" replying to a comment about thermodynamics :-) Excellent.

capitalize genus group names

[Anonymous Coward]

Cladophora.

Could be

[j00r0m4nc3r]

Well, anything could be the key to ultra-thin batteries. Wake me up when you find the thing that is the key...

Not really a battery

[Jack Malmostoso]

The device they came up with is more like a supercapacitor, but it still pretty good.
I believe that the real breakthrough in electrochemical energy storage technology will not be in greater energy density from new materials, but in cheaper alternatives from organic systems.
When their performance degrades too much we can safely toss them, make compost and start over.

A couple of examples:

http://gcep.stanford.edu/pdfs/Y0NOS1cDbWD509Q0m5Reyw/Symposium2009Poster_Joaquin_Geng.pdf
http://www.nec.co.jp/techrep/en/r_and_d/a05/a05-no3/a262.pdf

Disclaimer: I work in battery research so I firmly believe that batteries, and not fuel cells, will save us. So don't even go there.

Re:Not really a battery

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you suggesting Jesus is coming back with a 'copper-top'? Sweet! We redheads will finally get some respect!

=] I am making with the jokes - not trying to religion-troll =]

Yeah, so the paper is biodegradable.

[Hurricane78]

But what about the polymers that they are coated in??

Re:Yeah, so the paper is biodegradable.

[SpinyNorman]

There are biodedgradable plastics, you know. Polymers != Non-biodegradable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodegradable_plastic

Re:Yeah, so the paper is biodegradable.

[budgenator]

Cellulose is a polymer, Protein is a polymer, discussing something and using chemical nomenclature to decribe the chemicals doesn't automatically make then Evil(TM); at least they aren't using dihydrogen monoxide!

Re:Yeah, so the paper is biodegradable.

[Firethorn]

Not using dihydrogen monoxide! Why I bet they use so much of it they have it piped in! :)

Re:Yeah, so the paper is biodegradable.

[budgenator]

OMG your right, think of the children, oh the humanity!

just wait....

[trum4n]

they will spend billions developing this tech, then they wont be allowed to use it because charging the batteries would be torture to a living creature. PETA will have a field day.

Re:just wait....

[Anonymous Coward]

Shut up with all that anti-PETA crap. It's getting old.

Re:just wait....

[trum4n]

it never gets old making fun of idiots. btw, im an animal lover, but im not a psyco moron.

"..could eventually.."

[kheldan]

I also suppose "eventually" is 10 years out? Where have we heard this before? Oh, that's right, we've heard this everywhere before! Clean cheap cold fusion reactors are 10 years away. Self-aware AI is 10 years away. Mass-produced flying cars are 10 years away. Room-temperature superconductors are 10 years away.
If I was smart I'd've filed for a patent on the idea of claiming a new technology was "just 10 years away", then neither I nor the next 7 generations of my descendants would ever have to work!

Cool! I'll use them to power my...

[Anonymous Coward]

...flying car.