Biodegradable, 3D-Printed Fungal Battery Paves the Way to a Sustainable Power Supply

Fungi are eukaryotic organisms that have fascinated mankind for a long time with their potential as a medicine, but they also play an important role in our lives as edible mushrooms in gastronomy or as pathogens. Not to mention, mycelium is already being used as a 3D printing material, for example for printing loudspeakers or tiles. These microorganisms are therefore versatile, and researchers at Empa have now discovered new capabilities of fungi: as electricity generators. These 3D printed fungal batteries could be a significant step towards a sustainable power supply!

In a three-year research project supported by Gebert Rüf Stiftung as part of the Microbials funding program, researchers have produced a biodegradable fungal battery made of cellulose and wood materials that is fed instead of charged. Although the 3D-printed mushroom battery cannot generate much power, it can still generate enough to supply power to a temperature sensor for several days, making it potentially interesting for the agricultural sector or environmental research. In particular, the batteries could supply sensors in remote regions with electricity.

The grid-printed electrode contains the fungi that is used in the anode chamber of the battery (photo credits: Empa)

But what exactly is the 3D-printed fungal battery and what is it made of? Strictly speaking, it is not a battery, but a microbial fuel cell. This means that microorganisms, as with all living things, convert nutrients into energy and the microbial fuel cell makes use of this metabolism and captures part of the energy as electricity.