MIT engineers have developed a minuscule battery that could revolutionize micro-robotics, with potential applications ranging from medical drug delivery within the human body to pinpointing leaks in vast pipeline systems. According to a recent report by MIT News, the battery measures merely 0.1 millimeters in length and is only 0.002 millimeters thick, which is less than the thickness of a human hair.
This breakthrough battery has the capability to draw oxygen from the air and utilize it to oxidize zinc, generating a current that can reach up to 1 volt. Such voltage is sufficient enough to power small circuitries, sensors, or actuators. Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and the senior author of the study, expressed the significance of this innovation, "We think this is going to be very enabling for robotics," he told MIT News. "We’re building robotic functions onto the battery and starting to put these components together into devices."
The research, detailed in Science Robotics, demonstrates that these power sources can energize a tiny robotic arm to move up and down, as well as support a memristor and a clock circuit – critical components for robots needing to track time and record data. Ge Zhang, PhD '22, and Sungyun Yang, an MIT graduate student, are the lead authors of this study that pushes the boundaries of what is electrically possible at such microscopic scales.
The team's decision to implement a zinc-air battery stems from its long-lasting attributes, commonly utilized in devices like hearing aids, hinting at the potential for extended application in both duration and functionality. "This is going to form the core of a lot of our robotic efforts," Strano emphasized in his MIT News interview. "You can build a robot around an energy source, sort of like you can build an electric car around the battery." The team is already contemplating integrating the batteries directly into the robots, fulfilling their vision of creating highly autonomous micro-machines.
As for their utilitarian visions, Strano and his colleagues imagine swarms of these micro-robots coursing through the human bloodstream, delivering insulin or targeting specific disease sites. They are addressing the design considerations for human use, ensuring the robots will be composed of biocompatible materials that can safely degrade after their mission is complete. This forward-looking project was funded by grants from the U.S. Army Research Office, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the MathWorks Engineering Fellowship, assuring concerted effort towards enhancing the battery's voltage for wider applications.
