Sony turns paper into electricity

Company demonstrates new bio technology at exhibition

Sony recently created some buzz when they demonstrated a battery powered by paper at Tokyo?s Eco-Products 2011 exhibition.

Sony employee demonstrates new bio battery that generates electricity from paper. (Via: physorg.com)

The technology generates electricity by turning old, shredded paper and cardboard into sugar, which then gets used as fuel.

The demonstration

At the show, Sony invited children up to the stage to drop pieces of paper and cardboard into a liquid made of cellulase and other (unnamed) enzymes. They had the children shake the mixture before applying it to an outer circuit connected to a fan. After a few minutes, the fan began to rotate.

How does it actually work?

There are two parts to this. The first part is the paper, which provides cellulose, a long chain of glucose sugar that?s typically found in the walls of green plants. The second part is the liquid solution, which is, essentially, a bunch of enzymes suspended in water.

When paper is introduced to the liquid and the mixture agitated, the cellulase enzyme breaks the aforementioned glucose chain down. The resulting sugar is then processed by the other enzymes to form electrons and hydrogen ions.

The electrons can then be fed into an outer circuit to charge a power cell. The hydrogen ions, meanwhile, combine with oxygen from the surrounding air and form water.

An additional by-product of this process is the acid ?gluconolactone,? a common ingredient found in anti-aging cosmetics.

A noteworthy improvement

This bio battery is not Sony?s first foray into this specific area of bio technology. They also created a glucose-driven power cell in 2007. What makes this story particularly noteworthy is that this is the first battery to derive sugar using cellulase.

Cellulase is a natural enzyme. In their press release, Sony pointed out that it naturally occurs in wood-eating species, and that the fundamental properties of this technology can actually be compared to what happens in a termite.

Outlook

The bio battery is presently strong enough to power portable music players, but the technology is still in the early stages of research and development, and cannot yet run high-demand devices.

Regardless how long it takes to overcome this hurdle, Sony?s water/enzyme solution is a much improved alternative to the environmentally damaging chemicals found in a majority of today?s batteries, and a positive step forward in the world of bio technology. ?

References for this article via:

1. bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16288107

2. translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sony.co.jp%2FSonyInfo%2FNews%2FPress%2F201112%2F11-1205%2Findex.html

Source: http://www2.electronicproducts.com/Sony_turns_paper_into_electricity-article-fajb_sony_paper_battery_dec2011-html.aspx

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