Self-charging ingestible polysaccharide battery for controllable disinfection system
Wei-Shan Hsu1, Zong-Hong Lin2, Li-Hsien Yeh3, Anant Preet1, and Tzu-En Lin1,*
1 Institute of Biomedical Engineering, College of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, 30010 Hsinchu, Taiwan
2 Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
3 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan
telin@nctu.edu.tw
Abstract
Modern development of miniaturized wearable devices for health monitoring plays a crucial role in point-of-care diagnosis or in treatment for various diseases. However, the power source of these devices usually are batteries made from toxic metals and hazardous electrolytes, and hen it may cause injuries once swallowed. Chargeable ingestible battery invented in this research hold the advantages as it can offer high biocompatibility, non-poisonousness, and worldwide environmental sustainability. Thus, we built up a hydrogel-based ingestible battery which utilizes the selective ionic diffusion resulting from the saltiness gradient. Agarose hydrogels absorbed with potassium-chloride were utilized for making diverse saltiness difference. A cation- selective gellan gum (GG) film permits the cations to transport from hydrogels with high salinity across the membrane to hydrogels with low salinity, subsequently producing an open-circuit potential difference up to 177 mV. The geometry and shape of the battery were structured by a 3D printer so it can adjust to a variety of devices. The battery can be charged by through a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) charger bringing about the enough voltage about 300 mV. We applied the power to stimulate the bacterial solution containing E. coli, inhibiting or deactivating about 90% of the microorganisms. Subsequently, this innovation is promising for battling antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, such as the oral cavity, as well as for giving an innocuous energy source to medical devices.
Reference
[1] Lin, Zong-Hong, et al. “Ingestible polysaccharide battery coupled with a self-charging nanogenerator for controllable disinfection system.” Nano Energy 2021, 79,105440.
Short Bio
Dr. Tzu-En Lin is currently an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan. She received her Ph.D. in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, with a specialization in electrochemistry. She obtained her master’s and bachelor’s degree from National Taiwan University. She was a postdoc researcher in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, EPFL, and was an exchange student in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, U.S.A.