Tiny Microbial Power Generator Runs On Spit

Thursday, April 3, 2014 - 18:10 in Physics & Chemistry

Spit-powered, micro-sized microbial fuel cells produce enough energy to run on-chip applications, according to a paper in Asia Materials. Microbial fuel cells create energy when bacteria break down organic material producing a charge that is transferred to the anode. Bruce Logan, Professor Environmental Engineering at Penn State, has studied microbial fuel cells for more than ten years and usually looks to wastewater as a source for both the organic material and the bacteria to create either electricity or hydrogen, but says these tiny machines are a bit different. read more

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