Biofilm Band-Aid battery could power wearables

In Massachusetts, researchers have developed a biofilm that can stick to skin and generate electricity from sweat. Calling the evaporation of sweat a “huge, untapped source of energy,” the Band-Aid-like device could be used to power wearable devices, according to its inventors at University of Massachusetts Amherst. 

“This is a very exciting technology,” says electrical and computer engineering graduate student Xiaomeng Liu. “It is real green energy, and unlike other so-called ‘green-energy’ sources, its production is totally green.”

The film is produced by Geobacter sulfurreducens with little energy inputs. “We’ve simplified the process of generating electricity by radically cutting back on the amount of processing needed,” said microbiology professor Derek Lovely. “We sustainably grow the cells in a biofilm, and then use that agglomeration of cells. This cuts the energy inputs, makes everything simpler and widens the potential applications.”