Swiss Has one Some battery in the world full of fungi. Fungi are varied and fulfill different functions: from edible fungi to fungi, through single -cell life, macroscopic fungi, diseases that cause diseases and some that can be used to produce medicines.
The term “fungus” refers to a kingdom of eukaryotic organisms that cover a wide range of species. The importance of its existence in the Tierra It is that they have a great capacity to dissolve dead organic matter, to recycle nutrients and to set up symbiotic associations with other plants and organisms.
Although special, fungi are of fundamental importance for the right performance of different aspects of life on the planet Tierra. They are part of the evolutionary progress and play a crucial role in the fight against the climatic crisis. On the other hand, there are also fungi that negatively influence people and societies.
Switzerland writes history with a battery made of fungi
Now, experts from the Switzerland But They have found a new utility for fungi: create electricity. Laboratory researchers from Pack cellulose and wooden materials They designed one fungus battery. It is a research project with three years that has the support of the Gebert Rüf Foundation and is framed in the financing program of Microbial.
Living cells do not generate a significant amount of electricity, but sufficient to deliver a temperature sensor for several days, for example. These sensors apply in agriculture or environmental research. The biggest benefits of this fungus battery They are not toxic and it is biodegradable.
Technically, the cell is none batteryonly one microbial fuel battery. Just like the rest of living creatures, micro -organisms turn nutrients into energy. On the other hand, microbial fuel batteries use this metabolism and participate in energy in the form of electricity. For now they have received their energy supply mainly from bacteria.
“For the first time we have combined two types of fungi to create a stack of functional fuel,” says the researcher of Pack, Carolina Reyesas admitted But On her website.
Fungi battery: the concept with which Switzer breaks the imposed paradigm
The metabolisms of the two fungal species manage to supplement each other. On the side of the anode there is a yeast fungus whose metabolism releases electrons. On the other hand, the cathode is colonized by a white fungus, which generates a special enzyme, so that electrons can be caught and driven outside the cell.
Fungi are not “planted” in the batteryThey are an integral part of the cell from the start. In turn, the elements that make up the fungal battery are made by 3D printing. This allows researchers to structure electrodes in such a way that micro -organisms have easier access to nutrients.
To make this scenario again, combine mold cells with print -inkes. “It is quite difficult to find a material in which fungi grow well,” he says Gustav NyströmHead of the laboratory of Cellulose and wood materialsDetermining the difficulty to perform this procedure.
And he adds: “But ink must also be easy to outbreak without killing the cells and of course we want it to be a conductor of electricity and biodegradable.”
An innovative battery concept that inevitably reminds us of this battery of meat, the origin of which is people himself.
Electricity from fungi: Switzerland is crowned with a unique battery concept
The researchers used the extensive experience of their laboratory to develop an optimal cellulose ink. Even fungal cells can use cellulose as a nutrient and contribute to the decomposition of the battery After you use. However, the preferred source of the preference is simple sugar, which is added to the cells of the battery.
“Mold batteries can be stored in a dry state and activate them in the place by adding ordinary water and nutrients,” he says Reyes. The aim of the researchers is to continue and to ensure that this fungal battery is more powerful and sustainable, in addition to finding other types of adequate fungi to obtain electricity supply.
“Fungi have still not been investigated and underlined, especially in the field of material science,” they warn them Reyes y Nyström.
Swiss Make one battery Unique in the world made of fungi. A revolutionary finding at the height of this biobatría that is able to produce energy with the oxygen of the body.