MADRID, Feb 1 — Researchers in Spain have succeeded in developing a prototype battery that runs partly on haemoglobin. This solution offers many unsuspected advantages.

A research team with the Chemical Institute for Energy and the Environment (IQUEMA) at the University of Córdoba, Spain, has developed a battery that uses haemoglobin to facilitate an electrochemical reaction.

Haemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells that transports oxygen throughout the body. Researchers have demonstrated that haemoglobin has interesting properties in the oxidation process that generates energy in zinc-air batteries. As a result, they have developed the very first biocompatible battery, which uses haemoglobin in an electrochemical reaction that transforms chemical energy into electrical energy.

Here, haemoglobin functions as a catalyst in these batteries, facilitating the electrochemical reaction, also known as the oxygen reduction reaction. This means that once air enters the battery, oxygen is reduced and transformed into water in one part of the battery, releasing electrons which pass into the other part of the battery where zinc oxidation then takes place. And the initial results are quite convincing: the team was able to run its prototype battery for almost 30 days, with just 0.165 milligrams of haemoglobin.

In absolute terms, this type of battery could offer many advantages, starting with the ability to be used in extreme atmospheric conditions, where conventional lithium-ion models are affected by humidity or extreme heat. But ultimately, the most interesting use would be for devices directly integrated into the human body, such as pacemakers. Finally, it should be noted that these batteries can only function in the presence of oxygen, and could therefore not be used in space.

This research, which is still in its infancy, is published in the journal Energy & Fuels. — ETX Studio