NEES News

UMD’s bio-compatible battery garners international coverage

Engineers at the University of Maryland have invented an entirely new kind of battery that is bio-compatible, because it produces the same kind of electrical energy that the body uses. It moves electrons around in the device to deliver energy as a flow of ions out. It is the first time that an ionic current-generating battery has been invented. As a bonus, the battery is made of an unusual material – grass.

Lots of media outlets were interested in the story. Many covered the angle of the ionic current’s proof-of-concept, such as EE Times’ “Ions Power Machine-Human Interface Demo” or Chemical and Engineering News’ article “Backward battery delivers ions to cells”.

Some groups focused on the kind of uses the battery would have, such as to develop medical devices for the disabled, or for more efficient drug and gene delivery tools in both research and clinical settings, as a way to more precisely treat cancers and other medical diseases. Read International Business Times’ “Alzheimer's Disease, Depression Could Be Treated With Ion-Powered Battery, Research Says”.

"UMD Engineers Invent the First Bio-Compatible, Ion Current Battery" has been posted as a University Research highlight on the Office of Science homepage: The Office of Science’s twitter account,@doescience, also retweeted the UMD tweet.

Liangbing Hu, the head of the group that developed that battery, is a professor of materials science, a member of the University of Maryland Energy Research Center, a member of the Maryland Energy Innovation Institute, and a principal investigator of the Nanostructures for Electrical Energy Storage Energy Frontier Research Center, sponsored by the Department of Energy, which funded the study.

A complete list of coverage is below.

ASEE's First Bell

AZoCleantech UMD Scientists Invent First Ever Bio-Compatible, Ion Current Battery

Benzinga University of Maryland Engineers Invent the First Bio-Compatible, Ion Current Battery

Business Standard New type of bio-compatible battery invented

Controlled Environments Magazine Engineers Invent the First Bio-compatible, Ion Current Battery

C&E News Backward battery delivers ions to cells

Deccan Chronicle New type of bio-compatible battery invented

DOE Office of Science

ECNmag.com Engineers Invent The First Bio-Compatible, Ion Current Battery

EE Times Ions Power Machine-Human Interface Demo

ENGINEERING.com Introducing the First Biocompatible Ion Current Battery