Bob
4th February 2014, 21:11
Fascinating..
"Researchers at Virginia Tech have developed a working sugar-powered fuel cell with energy density greater than that of current lithium-ion batteries."
Glucose is the sugar, a simple molecule -
http://library.thinkquest.org/11226/image/glucose.jpg
made up of carbon hydrogen and oxygen - formed in links of OH (oxygen hydrogen) with carbon being the scaffold spine onto which the hydrogen and OH is layered. Think about H-OH being H2O or a potential water, separated by the carbon in the middle keeping the water ingredients held apart.
One should be able to see that in any "battery" a type of potential difference is needed, where the different charges are kept apart and allowed to flow through some directional channel - the flow through the channel can be where the electron flow is extracted, or POWER..
In humans, during aerobic respiration, glucose produces 3.75 kilocalories of energy per gram.
The Glucose Fuel cell produces 596 amp-hours per kilogram, described as "one order of magnitude" --or ten times more than that of lithium-ion batteries currently used in consumer electronics.
13 different enzymes are combined with air and "maltodextrin glucose" in the battery. The only products are water and electricity. ZERO POLLUTION !
CAN the batteries be recharged though? That question hasn't been satisfactorily answered yet.
Dr. Y.H. Percival Zhang is the chief researcher on the project.
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/zhang-virginia-fuel-cell-glucose-640x353.jpg
The fuel cell charge of glucose | enzymes is said to last 10 times longer than a normal lithium-ion battery.
http://www.vt.edu/ - Virginia Tech website, research at: http://www.research.vt.edu/
(note Virginia tech was also the location of a shooting in 2007 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre, Virginia Tech Massacre)
"Researchers at Virginia Tech have developed a working sugar-powered fuel cell with energy density greater than that of current lithium-ion batteries."
Glucose is the sugar, a simple molecule -
http://library.thinkquest.org/11226/image/glucose.jpg
made up of carbon hydrogen and oxygen - formed in links of OH (oxygen hydrogen) with carbon being the scaffold spine onto which the hydrogen and OH is layered. Think about H-OH being H2O or a potential water, separated by the carbon in the middle keeping the water ingredients held apart.
One should be able to see that in any "battery" a type of potential difference is needed, where the different charges are kept apart and allowed to flow through some directional channel - the flow through the channel can be where the electron flow is extracted, or POWER..
In humans, during aerobic respiration, glucose produces 3.75 kilocalories of energy per gram.
The Glucose Fuel cell produces 596 amp-hours per kilogram, described as "one order of magnitude" --or ten times more than that of lithium-ion batteries currently used in consumer electronics.
13 different enzymes are combined with air and "maltodextrin glucose" in the battery. The only products are water and electricity. ZERO POLLUTION !
CAN the batteries be recharged though? That question hasn't been satisfactorily answered yet.
Dr. Y.H. Percival Zhang is the chief researcher on the project.
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/zhang-virginia-fuel-cell-glucose-640x353.jpg
The fuel cell charge of glucose | enzymes is said to last 10 times longer than a normal lithium-ion battery.
http://www.vt.edu/ - Virginia Tech website, research at: http://www.research.vt.edu/
(note Virginia tech was also the location of a shooting in 2007 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre, Virginia Tech Massacre)