In the near future, longer-lasting batteries could run on virtually anything sugary, including tree sap or flat soda pop.
Scientists say these sweet new batteries could operate three to four times longer than the conventional lithium ion batteries commonly used in cell phones, laptops, MP3 players and many other portable electronic devices. And they are biodegradable.
"By bridging biology and chemistry, we can build a better battery that's also cleaner for the environment," researcher Shelley Minteer, an electrochemist at Saint Louis University in Missouri, said in a prepared statement.
Sugar is used as fuel by all living things. Now Minteer and her colleagues have adapted enzymes from nature that can strip charges from sugar to generate electricity in fuel cells.
Like all fuel cells, the new device combines fuel?in this case, sugar?with air to generate electricity and water as the main byproducts. Unlike other fuel cells, all the materials used to build the sugary device are biodegradable.
Also check out the "pee" battery at the bottom of the page.