One day a simple yoga class or stroll down the street may power wearable electronics, and one research team thinks it has created the ideal power source. The team has developed a bacteria-powered bio-battery that is entirely made of textiles, which allows it to twist and stretch in all directions. The battery offer sustainable and renewable energy and is eco-friendly.
Compared to traditional batteries and other enzymatic fuel cells, microbial fuel cells may be the most suitable power source for wearable electronics because the whole microbial cells as a biocatalyst provide stable enzymatic reactions and a long lifetime, according to led researcher Assistant Professor Seokheun Choi of Binghamton University, State University of New York. Sweat generated from the human body could serve as a potential fuel to support bacterial viability, providing the long-term operation of the microbial fuel cells.
You can see pictures of the stretchable battery in the article from Binghamton University. For more about this work, also see Choi’s published findings in Advanced Energy Materials.