Extending battery “life”?

Now I don’t know much about batteries but I know when people say their battery died, they don’t mean something actually died in their battery. It’s not like there’s something actually alive in a battery. It’s just an expression. Right?! Well for once, there may be some deeper meaning to this expression. 

Mod 3 was about biotemplating. Specifically, we used “live” viruses (M13 bacteriophage) to basically grow the cathode of a battery with some help from genetic engineering and conductive materials. (Disclaimer: I put quotes around live because there’s always that debate of whether viruses are, in fact, living things but I think it’s safe to say they’re more alive than any battery cathode I’ve seen). To our friends and family who may find this notion ludicrous, WE HAVE PROOF. Each of us got to take home one of these batteries and proudly display the single LED our batteries were able to power. 

While we did end up with functional batteries, this module was probably the one that went least according to plan and thus, likely most accurately mimicked real life experiments. Our TEM images showed us that the nanowires we (but mostly Jifa from the Belcher Lab) so carefully created looked nothing like they were supposed to after the biomineralization. However, as Angie aptly pointed out over Skype yesterday, even though we only completed a miniscule portion of the battery construction, this module involved quite an array of techniques. Between genetically engineering the virus and adding the right portions of AuNP and Fe(III)PO₄ before drying the nanowires, there was A LOT to consider. 

The thing that impresses me most, though, is that Angie thought of this concept as a grad student and that seemingly loony idea was realized at her lab and recognized at the White House. Both impressive and intimidating. I can’t even imagine coming up with something THAT out of the box as a grad student. This module has left me with a feeling of admiration and a belief that there are truly things that can be made possible even when all odds seem to be against it.