The scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are not wasting their time, and they have developed a new type of Lithium-ion battery which is based on bacterial viruses. The MIT researchers have managed to build the positively and negatively charged ends of a battery from genetically engineered viruses for the first time in history. According to Angela Belcher, the leader of the research team, these new virus-based Li-ion batteries can be as good as conventional batteries used for electronic devices, and for electric or hybrid cars.

The new batteries feature the same power performance and energy capacity as conventional batteries, however, the MIT researchers claim that they can be manufactured at lower prices then cutting-edge Li-ion batteries. The manufacturing process is cheaper and safer as the process can take place at or below room temperature, it doesn’t use toxic materials, and it doesn’t require potentially dangerous organic solvents.

In a conventional Lithium-ion battery manufacturing process, the lithium ions move between the negatively charged anode, and the positively charged cathode. The anode is based on graphite, while the cathode is based on cobalt oxide or lithium iron phosphate. A few years ago, the MIT researchers announced that they had engineered viruses to build the anode using gold and cobalt oxide coating, and then nanowires were formed thanks to a self-assembling process. Now Belcher claims that her team managed to develop a very powerful cathode which is very conductive and it’s a very fast electrode.

According to MIT Professor Gerbrand Ceder of materials science and Associate Professor Michael Strano of chemical engineering, cathodes have to be highly conducting, but the materials for cathode are not very conductive therefore genetically engineered viruses come as a great alternative for cathode materials.

The viruses can link to specific materials, and for these new batteries the researchers used carbon nanotubes. The nanowires based on iron phosphate can conduct carbon nanotubes networks as electrons can flow throughout the CNT networks meaning that they will quickly transmit energy. Carbon nanotubes are there to make the cathode highly conducting, and they are lightweight which means that they won’t add extra weight to the batteries.

According to Belcher, the virus-based batteries were tested in the lab and they didn’t lose any capacitance after they were discharged and recharged 100 times which fewer than conventional batteries which is a great disadvantage. However, after a few more tests, tweaks, and improvements the MIT researchers are convinced that the batteries will perform much better, possibly even better then conventional Li-ion batteries.

As an offbeat topic, MIT’s President Susan Hockfield met with U.S. President Barack Obama to discuss the future of clean energy technologies and she also brought a prototype of the virus-based battery. She explained that now we can wire virus-based batteries at nanoscale, and that in the near future the MIT researchers will try to develop batteries with materials that can provide a higher voltage and capacitance. Once the new and better batteries will be developed from nickel phosphate and manganese phosphate, then they will be commercialized and will enter in mass production.