Generating electricity is one of the great challenges of humans to the point where today we carry all kinds of batteries for electronic devices, from mobile to handsfree Bluetooth. Is it time for change?

PAZH | Imagine a smartwatch on your wrist that never runs out of power because it uses your sweat to power itself.

It sounds like science fiction, but researchers have figured out how to engineer bacterial biofilms to be able to generate continuous electricity from sweat.

They can harvest energy from evaporation and convert it into electricity, which could revolutionize wearable electronics, from personal medical sensors to electronics.

The science is in a new study published in Nature Communications.

“The limiting factor for wearable electronics has always been power,” said Jun Yoa, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass). “The batteries die and have to be replaced or recharged. They’re also bulky and heavy. and discomfort.”

However, the surface of our skin is often damp from sweat, so small, thin, transparent and flexible biofilms worn like a Band-Aid could provide a more convenient alternative.

Generating electricity  from sweat

Biofilms consist of a sheet of bacterial cells about 40 microns thick, or about the thickness of a sheet of paper. To be precise, it consists of a genetically engineered version of geobacteria that reduces sulfur.

G. Sulfur reductant, a microorganism known to produce electricity, has previously been used in “microbial fuel cells”. These require bacteria to survive, proper care and constant feeding, but this new biofilm can continue to work.

“It’s a lot more efficient,” said senior author Derek Lovely, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology at UMass Amherst. “They’ve simplified the power generation process by drastically cutting the amount of processing required.

“They grow cells sustainably in biofilms and then use cell aggregation. This reduces energy input, makes everything simpler, and broadens potential applications.”

The process relies on evaporation-based electricity production – the hydrovoltaic effect. Water flow is driven by evaporation between solid biofilms and liquid water, which drives the transport of electrical charges to generate electrical current.

Imagine a smartwatch on your wrist that never runs out of power because it uses your sweat to power itself.

It sounds like science fiction, but researchers have figured out how to engineer bacterial biofilms to be able to generate continuous electricity from sweat.

They can harvest energy from evaporation and convert it into electricity, which could revolutionize wearable electronics, from personal medical sensors to electronics.

The science is in a new study published in Nature Communications.

“The limiting factor for wearable electronics has always been power,” said Jun Yoa, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass). “The batteries die and have to be replaced or recharged. They’re also bulky and heavy. and discomfort.”

However, the surface of our skin is often damp from sweat, so small, thin, transparent and flexible biofilms worn like a Band-Aid could provide a more convenient alternative.

Biofilms consist of a sheet of bacterial cells about 40 microns thick, or about the thickness of a sheet of paper. To be precise, it consists of a genetically engineered version of geobacteria that reduces sulfur.

G. Sulfur reductant, a microorganism known to produce electricity, has previously been used in “microbial fuel cells”. These require bacteria to survive, proper care and constant feeding, but this new biofilm can continue to work.

“It’s a lot more efficient,” said senior author Derek Lovely, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology at UMass Amherst. “They’ve simplified the power generation process by drastically cutting the amount of processing required.

“They grow cells sustainably in biofilms and then use cell aggregation. This reduces energy input, makes everything simpler, and broadens potential applications.”

The process relies on evaporation-based electricity production – the hydrovoltaic effect. Water flow is driven by evaporation between solid biofilms and liquid water, which drives the transport of electrical charges to generate electrical current and generating electricity.