“It Recharges Itself”: China Unveils Revolutionary Battery Powered by Bacteria With 99% Efficiency

Chinese scientists have unveiled a groundbreaking bio-battery that literally recharges itself, showcasing an extraordinary efficiency of 99.5%. This revolutionary technology, developed at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, harnesses the power of electroactive microorganisms to generate electricity through their metabolic activities.

Bacterial power: the science behind self-recharging batteries

The innovative bio-battery represents a significant leap forward in sustainable energy storage. Unlike conventional batteries that rely on critical materials such as lithium and cobalt, this new technology utilizes living bacterial hydrogels as its power source. These specialized hydrogels consist of conductive biofilms encapsulated within an alginate matrix, creating a
biocompatible environment where bacteria can thrive while generating electricity.

What makes this technology truly remarkable is its self-recharging capability. The bio-battery can complete up to 10 recharge cycles automatically, with minimal human intervention. This functionality stems from the bacteria’s natural metabolic processes, which continuously produce electrons that can be harvested as electrical energy.

The bacterial viability statistics throughout the battery’s operation cycle are impressive:

- Over 70% viability during standard operation
- 97.6% viability at the end of discharge cycles
- Consistent performance across 50 consecutive cycles
- Coulombic efficiency exceeding 99.5%

This high bacterial survival rate ensures the bio-battery maintains its performance over extended periods, addressing one of the key challenges in developing bio-energy systems.

Ref: “It Recharges Itself”: China Unveils Revolutionary Battery Powered by Bacteria With 99% Efficiency  (paris2018)