Fuel cell receives energy boost from sugar

The findings from Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering, have been published in Nature Communications.

While similar power sources have been developed, this one has an energy density an order of magnitude higher than others, allowing it to run longer before needing to be refueled, Zhang said in a statement. He added that the new power source could be operating inside electronic devices in as soon as three years.

‘Sugar is a perfect energy storage compound in nature,’ Zhang said. ‘So it’s only logical that we try to harness this natural power in an environmentally friendly way to produce a battery.’

The new enzymatic fuel cell forms part of Zhang’s research which has previously seen the utilisation of a series of enzymes mixed together in combinations not found in nature. Similarly, he has created edible starch from non-food plants, and developed a new way to extract hydrogen in an economical and environmentally friendly way that can be used to power vehicles.