Biodegradable Battery Could Power Temporary Medical Implants

Mar-31-14 A biodegradable battery that dissolves completely in water after just three weeks could offer a method of powering the new generation of transient, implantable medical devices.

Created by a team from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the four-cell batteries are packaged in a biodegradable polymer. The anodes are made of magnesium foil and the cathodes of iron, molybdenum and tungsten—all of which are biocompatible in low amounts and will slowly dissolve in body. The battery's electrolyte solution is a phosphate-buffered saline solution, which is also non-toxic.
According to the research team, a battery that measures one centimeter on the side can produce 2.4 milliamps of electrical current.

The batteries could also have other applications, such a being paired with biodegradable sensors to monitor environmental issues like oil slicks. The sensors could be simply dropped into the slick, where they would transmit their data before dissolving harmlessly into the ocean.

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[NATURE.COM]
[MEDAGADGET]

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