‘Droplet battery’: Oxford creates world’s smallest lithium bio-battery for implants
Researchers at the University of Oxford have developed a miniature, soft lithium-ion battery for biomedical applications like heart tissue defibrillation and pacing.
The battery, made from biocompatible hydrogel droplets, is light-activated, rechargeable, and biodegradable.
The team claims that the tiny battery offers key capabilities for diverse biomedical applications, such as powering drug release, heart defibrillation, and energy delivery for microrobots.
Dr Yujia Zhang (Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford), the lead researcher for the study and a starting Assistant Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, in a statement, said :
To date, it is the smallest hydrogel lithium-ion battery and has a superior energy density,
Miniature soft battery
The development of tiny smart devices, often smaller than a few cubic millimeters, requires equally small power sources.
For biomedical devices that interact directly with biological tissues, these power sources must be made from soft materials to ensure safe and minimally invasive applications.
Ideally, these batteries should possess specific features, including high capacity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and triggerable activation. They should also have the capability to be controlled remotely to enhance their functionality and adaptability in complex environments.
It has proven difficult to combine all of these features into a single battery, though. There is a big gap in the development of effective, secure, and adaptable energy solutions for biomedical applications because no power source currently in use can combine all these qualities at once.
In order to solve the problem, scientists from the Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology at the University of Oxford have created a tiny, pliable lithium-ion battery using biocompatible hydrogel droplets.
Using a process known as surfactant-supported assembly, the battery joins three microscale droplets, each with a volume of 10 nanoliters, with the help of molecules that resemble soap. Two of the droplets contain lithium-ion particles that interact to produce energy.
According to the team, the innovative design addresses key challenges for powering biomedical devices, offering a biocompatible and efficient solution. The hydrogel-based battery provides a promising power source for small-scale, minimally invasive devices that interact safely with biological tissues.
Biocompatible power
The research team’s droplet battery is light-activated, rechargeable, and biodegradable, making it the smallest hydrogel lithium-ion battery with superior energy density.
The battery powered the movement of charged molecules between synthetic cells and controlled the beating and defibrillation of mouse hearts. By incorporating magnetic particles, it can also serve as a mobile energy carrier.
According to the team, proof-of-concept heart treatments conducted in animal models demonstrated its potential as a promising wireless and biodegradable solution for managing cardiac arrhythmias, which are a leading cause of mortality worldwide.
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‘Droplet battery’: Oxford creates world’s smallest lithium bio-battery for implants, source
