Scientists claim portabello mushrooms could provide a solution for more efficient and environmentally friendly batteries. The team of scientists from the University of Carolina, Riverside managed to create a battery that is supposedly better than the conventional lithium-ion batteries. The batteries were developed using skin from the Portabello mushroom.
The researchers claim that batteries created using this method can increase their capacity as they age. This is possible because the mushrooms are extremely porous and, therefore, have a lot of space for air and liquid to penetrate. These characteristics are important for energy transfer and storage that eventually translates to enhanced performance.
Scientific research also indicates that mushrooms have high levels of potassium salts, making them ideal for the electrolyte-active material. This aspect is ideal for improved battery capacity.
The researchers also found out that the skin of the Portabello Mushroom forms a carbon nanoribbon structure once heated to 1,100°C. The structure has smaller spaces that can store more energy.
According to Brennan Campbell, such materials can offer a lot of practicalities especially for mobile phone batteries in the future. Miss Campbell is a graduate student at UCR and the initial author of the Portabello mushroom research project.
According to the paper, the mushroom batteries would revolutionize the battery industry. Batteries made using this method grow in their capacity the more they are used. Such batteries would be ideal because they last longer.
The fact that they can be made from a biodegradable material is also another upside for the technology. The demand for batteries is currently on the rise.
However, normal batteries pose environmental problems when disposed of the wrong way. The mushroom batteries would eliminate this problem since they are environmentally friendly.
Scientists believe that this technology could provide a good alternative energy solution for the future. Setting up such technology might be costly and time-consuming but it will be worth it in the long-run. Hopefully, scientists will push this technology to industrial levels.
