New batteries will be created using viruses.

Lithium-air batteries are considered very promising in creating electric vehicles that will travel far longer after charging than is happening now. But in order to create such batteries, it is necessary to solve some technical problems, including the development of better, more durable materials for battery electrodes and increasing the number of charge-discharge cycles during battery life.

Scientists from MIT have found that producing nanowires using genetically modified viruses and using such wires as electrodes could be a good reason for creating a battery with improved characteristics.

To implement this technology, scientists have created an array of nanotubes, each having a thickness of 80 nanometers. A modified M13 virus was used to create it, a feature of which is the ability of metal and water molecules to bind them into a structure. Thus, viruses produce manganese oxide, which is used in making the cathode of lithium-air batteries. Such wires have a rougher structure than ordinary ones produced in a standard way. This in turn will give an advantage in charging and discharging the battery.

Another useful feature is that it is possible to manufacture nanowires at room temperature, using only viruses, metal and water. At the same time for the manufacture of conventional wires need to apply high temperatures and hazardous chemicals. But besides this, there is one more advantage: it consists in the fact that instead of insulated wires, viruses make a three-dimensional structure with cross-links, which gives the electrode greater strength.

As reported at the site of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this technology will produce batteries that have a 2-3 times higher energy density compared with a lithium-ion battery of the same class.

Researchers report that development is still at an early stage and there is still a lot of work to be done in order for such batteries to find their place in commercial use. In fact, scientists have developed only a cathode, and this is only one part of the design of the battery.

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/technology/novye-akkumulyatory-budut-sozdany-s-pomoshhyu-virusov.html.