Discarded electronics accumulate quickly. So researchers are increasingly looking for innovative ways to reduce the amount of e-waste. A team has now developed a disposable battery made of paper and other sustainable materials. It can be activated with water.
The wires, screens and batteries that make up traditional electronics — not to mention the plastic, metal and other materials that encase them — fill landfills with hazardous waste. Some e-waste is relatively large and obvious: old clamshell phones, air conditioners, radios, to name just a few common devices. Other parts can be easily overlooked, such as disposable electronic medical diagnostic kits, environmental sensors, smart labels containing batteries and other disposable devices.
“It’s those little batteries that are a big problem,” says Dele Ogunseitan, a professor of public health at the University of California, Irvine, who was not involved in developing the paper battery. However, he also conducts research in the field of environmentally friendly technologies and advises large tech companies. “Nobody really cares where those batteries end up,” he explains.
Water-activated paper battery, used by scientists from the Cellulose and Wood Materials Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA) Presented now in the specialized journal “Scientific Reports”.Therefore, it is made of environmentally friendly materials. Such a device could provide a sustainable alternative to the more harmful batteries commonly found in low-power devices.
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