Sony Develops Battery that Generates Electricity Through Sugar

Sony announced Thursday at their headquarters in Tokyo that their company has developed a bio battery that can generate electricity from sugar. The battery makes use of the enzymes in sugar to act as catalyst. According to Sony, these enzymes are produced through the application of power generation principles found in living organisms.

The bio battery consists of a cellophane separator which has an anode (the positive electrode in an electrolytic cell or a storage battery) that consists of sugar-digesting enzymes and mediator on one side, and a cathode (an electrode through which (positive) electric current flows out of a polarized electrical device) that has oxygen-reducing enzymes and mediator on the other side. The system works when the anode extracts electrons and hydrogen ions from the sugar through enzymatic oxidation then the hydrogen goes to the cathode through the separator and once there, the hydrogen ions and electrons absorb oxygen from the air to produce water. Sony calls this process, electrochemical reaction and when the electrons pass through the outer circuit, it generates electricity.

Sony reveals that their bio battery has an output power of 50 mW through tests conducted on the battery. Sony stated that their bio battery currently has the world's highest output power for passive type bio batteries. According to Sony's press release, the power output of their bio battery is enough to power-up a memory type Walkman.

Sony stated that in order to have a high power output, they developed a system of breaking down sugar that efficiently immobilizes enzymes and the mediator at the anode and a new cathode structure has helped in efficiently supplying oxygen to the electrode.