Boosting batteries with the help of Biology? Electric cars with longer driving range? Really???

Research in Lithium-air batteries have been going on for a long time. The area of research was so hot mainly due to its application in electric cars and so on. Just imagine if these batteries were much more powerful, it may have lead to greater driving range etc. But there were a lot of challenges to bring this dream into reality. 

Time changed. :D :) MIT researchers have found a way to add genetically modified viruses to the production of nanowires- the wires that are about the width of a red blood cell, and which can serve as on of a battery's electrodes-could help to solve these problems. 

The new work is described in a paper published in journal Nature Communications. The key area of their work was to increase the surface area of the wire, thus increasing the area where electrochemical activity takes place during discharging or charging of the battery. The researchers produced an array of nanowires, each about 80 nanometers across, using a genetically modified virus called M13, which can capture molecules of metals from water and blind them into structural shapes. Another important point is the ability of the viruses to increase the surface area of nanowires which posses a rough, spiky surface due to its effect. The viruses naturally produce a three-dimensional structure of cross-linked wires, which provides greater stability for an electrode. 

In lithium-air batteries this method of increasing the surface area can provide a big advantage, says the co-author Professor Belcher. Not only that, this process can be carried out at room temperature using a water-based process. 

A final part of the process includes addition of a small amount of metal, such as palladium, which greatly increases the electrical conductivity of the nanowires and allows them to catalyze reactions that takes place during charging and discharging. Altogether we can say that these batteries with modifications have the potential to produce a battery that could provide two or three times greater density which in turn increases the amount of energy stored. 

There is a lot of research still going on in this field so that it can be introduced for commercial production. We can hope for a eco-friendly less polluted future where cars run a longer distance without petrol or diesel and a safe Mother Earth.