Tiny robots may be able to perceive and react to their surroundings with the aid of these zinc-air batteries, which are smaller than a grain of sand.
The deployment of autonomous robots the size of cells for medicine administration within the human body, as well as other uses like identifying gas pipeline breaches, may be made possible by a small battery created by MIT engineers.
The new battery has dimensions of 0.1 mm in length and 0.002 mm in thickness, or about the same as a human hair. It is designed to oxidize zinc by absorbing oxygen from the air and producing a current that has a potential of up to 1 volt. The researchers demonstrated that this is sufficient to power a tiny circuit, sensor, or actuator.
Senior author of the paper and MIT Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering Michael Strano said, “We think this is going to be very enabling for robotics.” “We’re starting to assemble these parts into devices and adding robotic functions to the battery.”
The article’s principal authors are MIT graduate student Sungyun Yang and Ge Zhang, PhD ’22. Science Robotics published the paper.
The goal of Strano’s group has been developing little robots for a number of years that are able to perceive and react to stimuli in their surroundings. Ensuring sufficient power for such tiny robots is a big hurdle in their development.
Other researchers have demonstrated that solar power can be used to power microscale electronics; however, this method has the drawback that the robots need to always have a laser or similar light source aimed at them. Because they are powered by an external source, these gadgets are referred to as “marionettes.” These small gadgets might travel considerably farther if they were equipped with a power source, like a battery.
Since the marionette systems obtain all of their energy from outside sources, Strano claims that they don’t actually require a battery. However, a little robot must have more autonomy if it is to be able to enter areas that would otherwise be inaccessible. For anything that won’t be connected to the outside world, a battery is necessary.
Strano’s lab chose to employ a zinc-air battery in order to build robots that might grow more independent. These batteries are frequently used in hearing aids because of their high energy density, which gives them a longer lifespan than many other battery types.
How the Batteries function
The battery that they created is made up of a platinum and zinc electrode that is embedded in a strip of SU-8 polymer, which is often used in microelectronics. Zinc becomes oxidized and releases electrons when these electrodes come into contact with oxygen molecules in the air. These electrons then go to the platinum electrode and produce a current.
The results of this investigation demonstrated that the battery had sufficient energy to run an actuator, in this instance a robotic arm with a movable armrest. The battery may also power a clock circuit, which enables robotic devices to keep track of time, and a memristor, an electrical component that stores memories of events by altering its electrical resistance.
Additionally, two distinct varieties of sensors that alter their electrical resistance in response to substances in their environment, can be powered by the battery. Molybdenum disulfide, which is atomically thin, is used to make one sensor, while carbon nanotubes are used in the other.
“We’re creating the fundamental building blocks to develop cellular functions,” adds Strano.
In this work, the researchers connected their batteries to an external device via a cable; but, in further work, they intend to construct robots where the battery is integrated inside a device.
According to Strano, “this will serve as the foundation for many of our robotic endeavors.” “Just as you can build an electric car around the battery, you can build a robot around an energy source.”
Creating microscopic robots that might be put into the human body to find a specific place and distribute medication, like insulin, is one of those initiatives. The researchers imagine that the gadgets would be composed of biocompatible materials that would break down when used in the human body, when no longer needed.
For more such research updates, stay tuned to mortentechnologies.com!