Miniature zinc air batteries for tiny robots
Researchers in the US have developed a high energy density zinc air battery that could be used for small robotic systems and medical applications.
The miniature battery developed at MIT is 0.1mm long and 0.002mm thick with a voltage of 1V and 2.7nW to power a small circuit, sensor, actuator or memristor circuit. The cell has an energy density over 760Wh/l.
The battery that they designed consists of a zinc electrode connected to a platinum electrode, embedded into a strip of a polymer called SU-8, which is commonly used for microelectronics. When these electrodes interact with oxygen molecules from the air, the zinc becomes oxidized and releases electrons that flow to the platinum electrode, creating a current.
Using photolithography, 10,000 batteries could be fabricated from a single wafer.
Fab to build miniature solid state batteries
“We think this is going to be very enabling for robotics,” says Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and the senior author of the study. “We’re building robotic functions onto the battery and starting to put these components together into devices.”
The battery also provides enough power to run two different types of sensors that change their electrical resistance when they encounter chemicals in the environment. One of the sensors is made from atomically thin molybdenum disulfide and the other from carbon nanotubes.
“We’re making the basic building blocks in order to build up functions at the cellular level,” said Strano. “This is going to form the core of a lot of our robotic efforts. You can build a robot around an energy source, sort of like you can build an electric car around the battery.”
The researchers are also working on increasing the voltage of the miniature battery, which may enable additional applications.
www.mit.edu; www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.ade4642
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