Image credit:

mattwalker69 via flickr | http://bit.ly/1dK8srs

Rights information:
http://bit.ly/c34Awz

Researchers are harnessing the power of sugar to

fuel electronics.
Originally published:
Feb 28 2014 - 4:30pm
By:
Emily Lewis, ISNS Contributor
Researchers are charged up about biobatteries, devices able to harness common
biological processes to generate electricity. Most biobatteries are unable to generate
large amounts of power, but researchers recently developed a prototype version that
has the potential to be lighter and more powerful than the batteries typically found
in today's portable electronic devices, including smartphones.
In the body, sugar is converted into energy in a process called metabolism, which
decomposes sugar into carbon dioxide and water while releasing electrons.
Biobatteries produce energy though the same conversion process by capturing the
electrons that are generated in the decomposition of sugar with the same tools that
the body uses. Because biobatteries use materials that are biologically based, they
are renewable and non-toxic, making them an attractive alternative to traditional
batteries that need metals and chemicals to operate.
Percival Zhang and Zhiguang Zhu, researchers at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg,
designed a new biobattery with a greater output per weight than the typical lithiumion batteries used in most electronics. They described the research online last
month in the journal Nature Communications.

16-1

The new biobattery fully converts sugar to energy, which means more power output
than previous biobatteries, and a greater battery charge than common lithium-ion
batteries.
By using the lithium-ion battery, for example, your phone can only last for one day,
but in the future it will use sugar as the fuel...then the phone could last 10 days,
said Zhu.
The new biobattery gets its efficiency by using a novel system of enzymes, which
are proteins that help the reaction to take place. The system uses two active
enzymes that liberate two pairs of electrons from the sugar, while 10 other enzymes
help to reset the reaction inside the biobattery. Once the reaction is reset, the active
enzymes release another quartet of electrons. After six cycles, the biobattery
extracts all of the energy bound in the sugar molecule, along with carbon dioxide
and water.
Previous biobatteries could only extract one-sixth the energy of the new biobattery,
because they didn't use the non-active enzymes for recycling. By extracting more
electrons per weight of sugar, the effective energy density of the sugar has
increased.
One of the major advantages of this biobattery is that, while the cycle can fully
convert sugar to energy, it uses fewer enzymes than the body, making it more
robust.
Shelley Minteer, a biobattery expert from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City who
was not involved with the work, likes that the team was able to develop an enzyme
cycle, also known as an enzyme pathway, which uses fewer enzymes than the body.
Its really important to get all the electrons out, but not just to get all of the
electrons out, said Minteer. She added that its important to extract all of the
electrons using the fewest enzymes.
With their new recycling enzyme system, Zhang and his team have done just that. I
think it's a great [enzyme] pathway, noted Minteer.
While the new enzyme system marks a major step forward for biobatteries, the
technology still has some hurdles to surmount before it is market-ready.
So far there are two more challenges in front of us, Zhu explained.

16-1

He said that, in the current, non-optimized form of the battery, the power output is
still too low for many devices and the lifetime of the cell is still too short, as it cannot
yet be recharged.
However, as Minteer noted, these challenges are more on the engineering side of
things. Zhu and Zhang agree and expect to solve these problems at Zhangs
startup company, Cell-Free Bioinnovations.

Emily Lewis is a science writer in Boston, Mass.

Science category:
Biology
Environment
Physics
News section:
Inside Science News Service
Tags:
Energy
battery
plant metabolism

16-1
The Dehydration of Sugar by Sulfuric Acid
Source: B.Z.Shakhashiri,1983,ChemicalDemonstrations:AHandbookforTeachers
ofChemistry,vol.1,pp7778.
Description: In about 30 seconds after the acid is added to the sugar, a column of black
carbon grows up from the beaker. There are vapors and the smell of burned sugar.
Concept: Sulfuric acid is a strong acid and has a strong affinity for water.
Materials:
70 grams granulated sugar, C12H22O11

70 mL of concentrated (18 M) sulfuric acid, H2SO4

300 mL tall-form beaker

40-cm stirring rod
Paper towels

16-1

Disposable gloves or acid gloves

100 mL graduated cylinder
Tray
1 liter beaker
Sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3

Spatula

Safety:
Sulfuric acid is a very strong acid and is extremely corrosive to skin. Wear gloves and
safety goggles. During the reaction, steam is generated. It is hot. Stand clear of the
beaker and reduce amount of contact with these vapors to protect yourself from burns.
Put leftover materials in hood in C120. Fumes are irritating.
Procedure:
Spread some paper towels on the tray.
Put sugar into 300 mL beaker.
Insert stirring rod into center of sugar.
Put beaker on paper towels on the tray.
Add 70 mL of sulfuric acid to the sugar and stir briefly.
Stand about 1 - 2 meters away and wait for reaction to begin and column to grow.
Clean Up: You might want to incorporate part of the clean up procedure into the demo.
Lift black carbon column from beaker and put it into a liter beaker with some sodium
bicarbonate. With spatula, break the column up into smaller pieces. Add a little water and
set back on the tray. The foaming action is also exciting.
Neutralize any acid spills with sodium bicarbonate and wipe clean. Leave lecture hall
clean for the next class.
Rinse all glassware and carbon chunks with lots of water. Carbon can be thrown away in
trash.
Background:
Reactions:
Sugar is dehydrated:
C12H22O11 = 12 C (graphite) + 11 H2O ( l )
Sulfuric acid is hydrated:
H2SO4 . n H2O + m H2O = H2SO4 . n1 H2O + heat
(n = .11 moles, m = 11 X 2.0 moles of sucrose = 2.2 moles, and n1 = 2.3 moles.)
Notes:
Used in C101, C102, C105, and C106.

16-1