Your next environmentally friendly battery can be made from mushrooms, and it can eat your waste when it is ready
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Researchers of EmpaThe Swiss federal laboratories for material science and technology are investigating the potential of fungic lycelium to create a compact, biodegradable battery.
Their goal is to use Mycelium to produce “fungal paper” for battery electrodes – a concept that, according to researcher Ashutosh Sinha, stays in the experimental phase.
“We want to produce a compact, biodegradable battery whose electrodes consist of a living ‘fungal paper’,” says Sinha, and emphasizes that this vision is still a dream for the time being.
The dream of biodegradable batteries
The idea of a biodegradable battery made of living materials is ambitious. The team cooperates with the Mycelium of the Split-Gill moor chair, a fungus known for its unique mechanical and biological properties.
This fungus is naturally biodegradable and, in combination with its extracellular matrix, produces a material with promising potential for sustainable applications in technology.
The aim is to develop a system that dissolves without releasing harmful waste – in contrast to conventional electronic devices – by using the natural properties of the material.
EMPA researchers are now investigating how the tensile strength of mycelium and its sensitivity to moisture can be used in components such as biodegradable sensors and batteries.
Working with living materials brings remarkable challenges. The biodegradable nature of Mycelium is both an advantage and a limitation.
On the one hand, it can considerably reduce the environmental impact of batteries. On the other hand, the tendency to degrader calls for concern about his lifespan and reliability in electronic devices.
Living materials also respond to their environment, making it difficult to consistently predict or control their behavior.
“Biodegradable materials always respond to their environment. We want to find applications where this interaction is not an obstacle, but perhaps even an advantage,” said Empa’s Gustav Nyström.
The idea of a compact, biodegradable battery with fungal paper electrodes remains conceptual and one of the biggest challenges will refine the material to meet performance standards needed in modern electronics.
Nevertheless, it represents a promising step towards more sustainable and environmentally conscious electronics.
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