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A boost for biofuel cells
Abbildung: Moleküle reagieren spontan in einer enzymatischen Reaktion und setzen Elektronen frei, die dann einen elektronischen Flyback und einen Boost-Konverter antreiben. Hier werden einige der Elektronen gespeichert und ihre Energie verstärkt, bevor sie Geräte und Reaktionen antreiben, die Energie benötigen und sonst nicht spontan ablaufen könnten. Bild: Alejandro Posada.

A boost for biofuel cells

In chemistry, a reaction is spontaneous when it does not need the addition of an external energy input. How much energy is released in a reaction is dictated by the laws of thermodynamics. In the case of the spontaneous reactions that occur in the human body this is often not enough to power medical implants. Now, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, together with an international team of researchers, found a way to boost the energy output by storing and bundling the energy of many spontaneous enzyme reactions. The work is published in the journal Nature Communications and shows how abundant, simple enzyme reactions can be used to power energy-hungry reactions and electronic devices.


biofuel Micro Nano and Molecular Systems peer Fischer Nature Communications

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