Philip R. LeDuc and Kelvin B. Gregory, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, have declared the development of world’s smallest fuel cell that is powered by biology.
The new fuel cell, representing the size of a lone strand of a human hair, produces electric power from bacteria by utilizing organic processes over thin gold plates placed in micro-produced channels. The fuel cell chooses the required bacteria to generate a biofilm, which in turn employs natural organic chemicals as fuel to produce power.
According to the researchers, the concept of microbial power production was inspired by the potential use of waste biomass to serve as a renewable energy fuel source for large-scale power production. Philip R. LeDuc said that the cost effective bio-powered fuel cell can be easily used in remote places where conventional batteries prove ineffective. Kelvin B. Gregory remarked that the new biological fuel cell utilizes microfluidic flow control to generate electricity.
According to the researchers, future models of the tiny bacteria-powered fuel cell will ultimately substitute the use of batteries in microelectronic devices and will store more amount of energy in the limited space. The biology-powered fuel cells can be utilized in self-powered sensing applications in remote places such as geological surroundings or deep oceans.
Source: http://www.cmu.edu/