Affiliation:
1. Center for Nano Science and Technology @PoliMi Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Via R. Rubattino, 81 Milan 20134 Italy
2. Department of Physics Politecnico di Milano Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32 Milan 20133 Italy
3. Department of Engineering for Innovation Campus Ecotekne University of Salento Via per Monteroni Lecce 73100 Italy
4. Smart Materials Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia via Morego 30 Genova 16163 Italy
5. Materials Characterization Facility Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia via Morego 30 Genova 16163 Italy
Abstract
AbstractEdible electronics is a growing field that aims to produce digestible devices using only food ingredients and additives, thus addressing many of the shortcomings of ingestible electronic devices. Edible electronic devices will have major implications for gastrointestinal tract monitoring, therapeutics, as well as rapid food quality monitoring. Recent research has demonstrated the feasibility of edible circuits and sensors, but to realize fully edible electronic devices edible power sources are required, of which there have been very few examples. Drawing inspiration from living organisms, which use redox cofactors to power biochemical machines, a rechargeable edible battery formed from materials eaten in everyday life is developed. The battery is realized by immobilizing riboflavin and quercetin, common food ingredients and dietary supplements, on activated carbon, a widespread food additive. Riboflavin is used as the anode, while quercetin is used as the cathode. By encapsulating the electrodes in beeswax, a fully edible battery is fabricated capable of supplying power to small electronic devices. The proof‐of‐concept battery cell operated at 0.65 V, sustaining a current of 48 µA for 12 min. The presented proof‐of‐concept will open the doors to new edible electronic applications, enabling safer and easier medical diagnostics, treatments, and unexplored ways to monitor food quality.
Funder
European Research Council
Subject
Mechanical Engineering,Mechanics of Materials,General Materials Science
Cited by
24 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献