Progress towards the integration of technology into living organisms
requires electrical power sources that are biocompatible, mechanically
flexible, and able to harness the chemical energy available inside
biological systems. Conventional batteries were not designed with these
criteria in mind. The electric organ of the knifefish Electrophorus electricus
(commonly known as the electric eel) is, however, an example of an
electrical power source that operates within biological constraints
while featuring power characteristics that include peak potential
differences of 600 volts and currents of 1 ampere1,2.
Here we introduce an electric-eel-inspired power concept that uses
gradients of ions between miniature polyacrylamide hydrogel compartments
bounded by a repeating sequence of cation- and anion-selective hydrogel
membranes. The system uses a scalable stacking or folding geometry that
generates 110 volts at open circuit or 27 milliwatts per square metre
per gel cell upon simultaneous, self-registered mechanical contact
activation of thousands of gel compartments in series while
circumventing power dissipation before contact. Unlike typical
batteries, these systems are soft, flexible, transparent, and
potentially biocompatible. These characteristics suggest that artificial
electric organs could be used to power next-generation implant
materials such as pacemakers, implantable sensors, or prosthetic devices
in hybrids of living and non-living systems。