My first question was "but why?" and apparently it has more applications than one would think at first, as it says in the article: edible batteries in toys for kids would eliminate toxicity risk and supporting electronics that go inside our body (they are working in edible transistors).
I also wanted to highlight this hilarious phrase in the article:
> While all of these components are nontoxic and edible, the researchers clarify that a user is not supposed to eat the battery on purpose, which would obviate the whole point of making it rechargeable.
"Please don't buy our batteries for eating, eat a banana or something"
> "Please don't buy our batteries for eating, eat a banana or something"
So much potential, which will be left unused...
"We don't recommend that you buy our batteries solemnly for the purpose of eating, but we won't judge you either."
"We don't recommend that you buy our batteries solemnly for the purpose of eating, but if you want to take a bite, the D-Cells are chocolate flavored."
Another high value use might be long term surgical instruments that are meant to be left in the body for several weeks before degrading harmlessly. Imagine something like dissolving stitches.
a pacemaker is admittedly a poor example, but it's also just that: an example. I'm sure there's hosts of medical devices that would benefit from dissolving. Perhaps even devices that are infeasible currently because they don't dissolve.
We have edible, but not digestible wireless cameras already. Prepare for a slightly different noise when using the bathroom in the next few days/hours though.
Very quick math says this is much weaker than a potato battery, which is a fun comparison. [1] puts the capacity of a potato around 0.1 Wh, quite impressive. Using the numbers from TFA I get a capacity of 5.2 µWh [2]. For reference an AA battery is 4.275 Wh.
A spent potato battery is apparently not edible, but 5.2 µWh does not provide much power. Also a potato battery is not rechargeable, while this one is, if you do not eat it of course.
It's also plainly true that any battery with too much power, when bitten and chewed, would form lots of electrical shorts in your mouth and burn the hell out of your insides.
This thread seems to be essentially all wrong.
"What does this do to its edibility once the energy has been all used up? "
The energy used to run the clock doesn't came from the potato. It comes from the coal used to smelt the zinc from its ore.
"Not sure how it will taste, but it will reduce the ascorbic acid content."
Probably true, but not a big deal
"Potatoes have a higher content of vitamin C than even oranges do."
Not true
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_C#Plant_sources
"You will also get some metal ions in your potato.
Copper ions, zinc ions, etc, depending on what your electrodes are."
Not quite true, there's no "probably" about it. The energy is released by the conversion of metallic zinc to zinc ions.
"Perhaps some organometallic compounds."
I doubt it; most organozinc compounds are not stable in the presence of air or water.
"Some of the metal ions may in fact be vitamins"
No, they may be minerals which the body uses, but they can't be vitamins since ther are not organic compounds.
Potato batteries are back? Quercetin would be onion/apple flavor, riboflavin will be liver/egg flavor. Activated charcoal will prevent anything from being absorbed in the gut.
"The role of the electrolyte in non-conjugated radical polymers for metal-free aqueous energy storage electrodes." (2023) DOI: 10.1038/s41563-023-01518-z
> Chitosan /ˈkaɪtəsæn/ is a linear polysaccharide composed of randomly distributed β-(1→4)-linked D-glucosamine (deacetylated unit) and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (acetylated unit). It is made by treating the chitin shells of shrimp and other crustaceans with an alkaline substance, such as sodium hydroxide.
Is there a sustainable way to produce Chitosan, which is an electrolyte?
Child mortality has fallen almost every year since the 1800s. That doesn’t happen without advancements like this. Are you really advocating for higher child mortality?
Not if they are terrible batteries in term of energy storage and cost. It's not objectively a good thing and I don't have to agree with you or this product to be not miserable.
It is not. The organic material isn't the part that gets used up, but rather the electrodes. The energy does not really come from the potato, just the chemistry environment. If you take the electrodes out and put them in a new potato, I don't think that will get you a fresh battery.
I also wanted to highlight this hilarious phrase in the article:
> While all of these components are nontoxic and edible, the researchers clarify that a user is not supposed to eat the battery on purpose, which would obviate the whole point of making it rechargeable.
"Please don't buy our batteries for eating, eat a banana or something"