Now, bacteria-powered battery made of paper

New York, June 11: Using origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, engineers have developed an inexpensive, bacteria-powered battery made from paper. The battery generates power from microbial respiration, delivering enough energy to run a paper-based biosensor, the researchers reported in the Nano Energy journal. "Paper is cheap and biodegradable and we do not need external pumps or syringes because paper can suck up a solution using capillary force" said Seokheun Choi from Binghamton University in the US. The method should be especially useful to anyone working in remote areas with limited resources. Total cost of this potentially game-changing device is just five cents, Choi said.