In The Works: Cheap Origami Batteries Powered By Dirty Water

by Monica Joshi

Making origami swans, planes, and purses basically sums up my ninth year of living. Giving them to family and friends, teaching them how to make them, and then bragging about how I could make a paper dragon fly was the highlight. Now, they have inspired an electrifying new origami creation: an origami battery. What's more? It will be powered by the most abundantly available substance — dirty water.

Any liquid that has bacteria in it contains enough energy to power the battery. Water is the most common example of such a substance.

Lead researcher Seokheun “Sean” Choi of Binghamton University said that:

“Dirty water has a lot of organic matter. Any type of organic material can be the source of bacteria for the bacterial metabolism.”

Since taking batteries to remote locations around the world can be a challenge, the paper technology used for the making of this battery will be especially useful for scientists who work in remote areas.

Choi adds that:

“Paper is cheap and it’s biodegradable. And we don’t need external pumps or syringes because paper can suck up a solution using capillary force.”

These batteries can also be disposed of safely, as they are environmentally friendly. The best part of this new innovation: It costs merely five cents to make the battery. As the battery (when folded) is about the size of a matchbook, it can even be made with ordinary office paper.

In order to give the paper its electrifying properties, one side (the cathode) is sprayed with a nickel-based spray to create the negative section of the battery. The anode is printed onto the paper using carbon paints. This is the positive side.

For Choi, the creation of the battery was something that electrified his science senses:

“I connected four of the devices in series, and I lit up this small LED. At that moment, I knew I had done it!”

How exciting is that?

While the battery isn't powerful enough to power even a humble mobile phone, it is better suited to power up appliances that are in the microwatt range. These appliances include tools that scientists use frequently in on-site data collection ventures, such as biosensors or LEDs.

Currently, the paper-based biosensors have to be paired with other devices to perform analyses. Choi, however, envisions that one day the origami battery will be producing enough power to run a biosensor all on its own. A monumental feat that would be.

All of these properties, as well as his vision for the future, make this a very attractive project to experts working in disease control and prevention, especially in the Global South where electricity can be an issue and obtaining regular batteries at a moment's notice is a challenge.

This will allow for a cheap source of electricity for remote areas, but it won't be enough to power whole cities any time soon. Nevertheless, it is a great step in the eco-friendly direction of technological innovation that we so desperately need in our battery-consumerist society.