Engineers design tiny batteries for powering cell-sized robots

A tiny battery designed by MIT engineers might allow the deployment of cell-sized, autonomous robots for drug supply inside within the human physique, in addition to different purposes comparable to finding leaks in gasoline pipelines.

The new batterywhich is 0.1 millimeters lengthy and 0.002 millimeters thick—roughly the thickness of a human hair—can seize oxygen from air and use it to oxidize zinc, making a present of as much as 1 volt. That is sufficient to energy a small circuit, sensor, or actuator, the researchers confirmed.

“We think this is going to be very enabling for robotics,” says Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and the senior writer of the examine. “We’re building robotic functions onto the battery and starting to put these components together into devices.”

Ge Zhang, Ph.D. and Sungyun Yang, an MIT graduate pupil, are the lead authors of the paper, which appears in Science Robotics.

Powered by batteries

For a number of years, Strano’s lab has been engaged on tiny robots that may sense and reply to stimuli of their setting. One of many main challenges in creating such tiny robots is ensuring that they’ve sufficient energy.

Different researchers have proven that they’ll energy microscale gadgets utilizing solar powerhowever the limitation to that method is that the robots should have a laser or one other light source pointed at them always. Such gadgets are often called “marionettes” as a result of they’re managed by an exterior energy supply. Placing an influence supply comparable to a battery inside these tiny gadgets might free them to roam a lot farther.

“The marionette systems don’t really need a battery because they’re getting all the energy they need from outside,” Strano says. “But if you want a small robot to be able to get into spaces that you couldn’t access otherwise, it needs to have a greater level of autonomy. A battery is essential for something that’s not going to be tethered to the outside world.”

To create robots that would grow to be extra autonomous, Strano’s lab determined to make use of a sort of battery often called a zinc-air battery. These batteries, which have an extended lifespan than many different sorts of batteries resulting from their excessive vitality density, are sometimes utilized in listening to aids.

The battery that they designed consists of a zinc electrode related to a platinum electrode, embedded right into a strip of a polymer known as SU-8, which is usually used for microelectronics. When these electrodes work together with oxygen molecules from the air, the zinc turns into oxidized and releases electrons that circulation to the platinum electrode, making a present.

On this examine, the researchers confirmed that this battery might present sufficient vitality to energy an actuator—on this case, a robotic arm that may be raised and lowered. The battery might additionally energy a memristor, {an electrical} element that may retailer reminiscences of occasions by altering its electrical resistance, and a clock circuit, which permits robotic gadgets to maintain monitor of time.

The battery additionally supplies sufficient energy to run two several types of sensors that change their electrical resistance after they encounter chemical compounds within the setting. One of many sensors is constructed from atomically skinny molybdenum disulfide and the opposite from carbon nanotubes.

“We’re making the basic building blocks in order to build up functions at the cellular level,” Strano says.

Robotic swarms

On this examine, the researchers used a wire to attach their battery to an exterior gadget, however in future work they plan to construct robots during which the battery is integrated into a tool.

“This is going to form the core of a lot of our robotic efforts,” Strano says. “You can build a robot around an energy source, sort of like you can build an electric car around the battery.”

A kind of efforts revolves round designing tiny robots that could possibly be injected into the human physique, the place they may hunt down a goal web site after which launch a drug comparable to insulin. To be used within the human physique, the researchers envision that the gadgets could be manufactured from biocompatible supplies that might break aside as soon as they had been now not wanted.

The researchers are additionally engaged on rising the voltage of the battery, which can allow further purposes.

This story is republished courtesy of MIT Information (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a well-liked web site that covers information about MIT analysis, innovation and educating.