Water-activated paper battery has potential with single-use electronics
Scientists in Switzerland have developed a water-activated disposable paper battery suitable for low-power, single-use disposable electronics including smart labels, environmental sensors and medical diagnostic devices.
The battery, developed at Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology), is presented in a proof-of-principle study in Scientific Reports.
Devised by Gustav Nyström and colleagues, the battery is made of at least one cell measuring one centimetre squared and consisting of three inks printed onto a rectangular strip of paper.
Sodium chloride is dispersed throughout the strip of paper and one of its shorter ends has been dipped in wax. An ink containing graphite flakes, which acts as the cathode, is printed onto one of the flat sides of the paper while an ink containing zinc powder, which acts as the anode, is printed onto the reverse side of the paper.
"What's special about our new battery is that, in contrast many metal air batteries using a metal foil that is gradually consumed as the battery is depleted, our design allows to add only the amount of zinc to the ink that is actually needed for the specific application", Nyström said in a statement.
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