Happy Earth Day!
There are countless reasons to celebrate and be grateful for our planet. The purpose of Earth Day is to promote positive environmental action that will help protect our planet for as long as possible. Sustainable technologies and biodegradable materials play a key role in this mission, and considering this year’s Earth Day theme “our power, our planet”, it is particularly fitting to reflect on the promising advances in biodegradable batteries.
Over the last decade the rapid growth of Internet of Things devices, consumer electronics and monitoring technologies has resulted in an alarming increase in electronic waste, i.e. e-waste. In fact, the United Nations reports a record 62 million tonnes of e-waste was produced in 2022, which represented an 82% increase from 2010. This is a source for environmental concern as e-waste has low recyclability rates and can introduce highly toxic substances, including plastics, heavy metals and other pollutants, into the environment. Batteries, which are used as the power source for many of these electronic devices, are a major contributor to e-waste.
From the packaging through to the individual components (electrodes, substrates, electrolytes), there are many elements of a battery that can be designed to improve the end-of life environmental impact. Biodegradable materials, such as biodegradable polymers, provide exciting opportunities. For example, 3D-printed batteries using all biodegradable polymers have been developed which can be broken down naturally in a couple of months under typical composting conditions. Another exciting development in this space is aqueous zinc-based batteries, also known as “Ziggy”. These batteries boast several advantages, including low cost, safety, and sustainability.
Besides being biodegradable, all battery components and degradation products need to be non-toxic to the environment and to living species. This is of course a limitation of batteries which contain metal ions; however, even all-organic materials may still present some degree of toxicity and introduce harmful components into the environment if not handled correctly. Additionally, for these “green” options to offer real viable alternatives to existing batteries (e.g., Lithium-ion batteries), they must provide comparable performance in the form of energy storage and output, shelf life and manufacturing costs. Providing technologies which are industrially scalable continues to be a challenge in this field.
Developing innovative materials is an important first step to providing greener battery options and I have been excited by the pace of research and creativity that I have seen in this field. Patents are crucial to turning these scientific advances into real-world solutions that benefit this planet, and I look forward to continuing to support innovation in this space and provide protection for bright ideas that will shape a better future.
Boult can advise you in relation to protecting inventions in this space. Get in touch with a member of our energy and green technologies team today.
