Date: Oct 07, 2013 Author: Lucy Berry Source: Al.com (
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Huntsville's CFD Research Corporation was recently awarded a $750,000 Air Force research contract to further develop its patented paper-based Bio-Battery (TM) technology, which has been featured on Bloomberg TV, in Economist magazine and at TEDx-Huntsville.
The Bio-Battery, a power source developed since 2004 through federal contracts and industrial collaborations, uses enzymes as a catalyst to convert sugars into electrical energy. A nanocomposite anode, the heart of the Bio-Battery (TM) device, is full of enzymes that oxidize glucose and other sugars to release electrons and generate energy.
Officials say efforts will continue to grow the platform to provide more diverse fuel choices and develop a paper-based passive fuel-pumping system.
Headquartered in Huntsville and founded in 1987, CFD Research Corporation was recently able to demonstrate a multi-enzymatic electrode that can selectively oxidize sugars or alcohol. The company, which operated on Wynn Drive since 1996 and at HudsonAlpha since 2008, also relocated this month to a new building along McMillian Park at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.
"Latest progress in this research allowed us to achieve greater fuel flexibility, signifying that our fuel cell can generate power from a variety of readily available fuel sources, an important feature for remote, off-grid applications," said Jenny Ulyanova, principal investigator.
The company is also incorporating a paper-based passive fuel pumping system, which is designed to be low-cost, flexible and based on technology developed by University of New Mexico professor and project partner Plamen Atanassov.
"Because the Bio-Battery operates as a fuel cell, it can run indefinitely if a small amount of fuel can be continuously supplied to the system," said Sameer Singhal, program manager. "The paper-based pumping system is ideal for this application because it uses capillary wicking and therefore no parasitic power is needed to supply fresh fuel to the system."
Created to meet a critical need in small, mobile military and commercial systems, the Bio-Battery (TM) will be suitable for a range of low power and long duration applications in remote monitoring, sensing and surveillance.
