Virus may lead to better batteries

Scientists have reported progress in using a common virus to develop improved materials for high-performance, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that could be woven into clothing to power portable electronic devices.

They discussed development of the new materials for the battery’s cathode at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

The power sources could, in the future, be woven into fabrics such as uniforms or ballistic vests and poured or sprayed into containers of any size and shape, said Mark Allen, who presented the report.

He is a postdoc in Angela Belcher’s group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These conformable batteries could power smartphones, GPS units and other portable electronic devices.

“We’re talking about fabrics that also are batteries,” Allen said. “The batteries, once woven into clothing, could provide power for a range of high-tech devices, including handheld radios, GPS devices and personal digital assistants. They could also be used in everyday mobile phones and smartphones.”

Batteries convert chemical energy into electrical energy using two electrodes - an anode and cathode - separated by an electrolyte.

At the ACS meeting, Allen described development of new cathodes made from an iron-fluoride material that could soon produce lightweight and flexible batteries with minimal loss of power, performance or chargeability compared with today’s rechargeable power sources.

Allen has extended work done last year by MIT scientist Angela Belcher and her colleagues, who claim to be the first to engineer a virus as a biotemplate for preparing lithium-ion battery anodes and cathodes.

The virus, called M13 bateriophage, consists of an outer coat of protein surrounding an inner core of genes. It infects bacteria and is harmless to people.

“Using M13 bateriophage as a template is an example of green chemistry, an environmentally friendly method of producing the battery,” Allen said.

“It enables the processing of all materials at room temperature and in water.” And these materials, he said should be less dangerous than those used in current lithium-ion batteries because they produce less heat, which reduces flammability risks.

The Belcher Biomaterials group is in the beginning stages of testing and scaling up the virus-enabled battery materials, which includes powering unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance operations. Making lightweight and long-lasting batteries that could result in rechargeable clothing would have several advantages for both military personnel and civilians, Allen added.

“Typical soldiers have to carry several kilos of batteries. But if you could turn their clothing into a battery pack, they could drop a lot of weight. The same could be true for frequent business travellers who lug around batteries and separate rechargers for laptop computers, mobile phones and other devices. They, too, could shed some weight.”

American Chemical Society