Algae+Based+Batteries

**Aaron Huisinga** = ** Algae Based Batteries ** = Though a relatively new technology, algae based batteries are showing a lot of promise and had progressed a substantial amount over a few short years. They have a large amount of potential to be able to replace the current generation of lithium-ion batteries, and become a large player in the battery field in the future.



=The Technology Behind the Designs: = The technology behind these batteries has been changing and evolving quickly. While the basic construction has stayed the same, different strains of algae, and different substances have been combined to produce annodes. Despite these differences, much of the process is uniform. Alginate is extracted from brown algae using a process to create a uniform material. Alginates are used due to their evenly distributed carboxylic groups, which makes them extremely effective. These, combined with a slurry will suspend a group of nanoparticles. Alginate binds these nanoparticles together and to the metal of the anode, which helps the ions move and electricity to be created. Some of the different substances that have been combined with the alginate to produce these nanoparticles include silicone and graphite. When mixed in this H20 solution, they produce ions and electricity in a very eco friendly way.



Benefits of Algae Based Batteries: Cell phones, computers, anything that currently makes use of lithium-ion batteries could run on a cleaner, more efficient, and cheaper product in these alginate based power cells. This is considered to be the most important, as battery technology has been very slow to evolve compared to the rest of the technology world, and it is time to have a practical alternative. As well as the clear benefits of the eco friendly traits that these algae batteries posses, their unique design traits also give them a unique advantage over normal lithium-ion batteries: their diverse shapes. Not only that, but these batteries are also much more flexible (at least current prototypes) and thinner than current batteries. With that, there can be many more applications for our designs than what is currently available. Imagine battery powered packaging, papers, or any other thin substance that currently is too small or compressed for normal batteries.

Unique Properties: With their environmentally friendly traits, these batteries could help to rid the world of one of the largest sources of pollution since batteries became popular. Millions of batteries are thrown out annually, and the different acids and chemicals in them can be dangerous for the environment when not disposed of properly. Due to the safety of algae and the other chemicals utilized in these new batteries, disposing of them could be done very safely and easily. As mentioned earlier, their flexibility is also a very unique property that gives them a different advantage over current hard and inflexible designs available on the market. With their different possible shapes and sizes, these algae batteries could fit into the remaining space in laptop or cell phone designs, and give manufacturers different options for fitting these batteries into their designs. They could choose to focus more on spacing for other parts of the design, and just fit these batteries into their remaining space. According to the results of the current researchers, it seems that they believe these battery prototypes will be able to also hold charge longer and have more power per square inch than all leading batteries currently on the market. Due to this, there doesn't seem to be much of a downside at all to adopting algae batteries as a standard.

Current Research Progress: The largest team of current researchers is a joint operation between Clemson University, and Georgia Tech. They have been spending time dedicated to furthering the technology and different beneficial traits of these algae batteries for over 2 years. While they still have no available product on the market, the team has several different prototypes that utilize numerous combinations of ideas. Another university that has been dedicated researchers toward this field is Uppsala University in Sweden. They have had a team of researchers together longer than the Clemson/Georgia Tech team here in the United States, and were one of the first teams to publish any research findings.

= = Further Reading: Scientific American on Algae Batteries MSNBC "Paper Thin Batteries Made From Algae" Smart Planet Coverage Sci Tech Video on Batteries