Ultrasonic liquid-phase catalysis for enhanced power generation in Al-based bioelectrolyte batteries

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method using ultrasound to improve the performance of aluminum-based batteries powered by bioelectrolytes like sweat.

Contribution

The study introduces ultrasonic liquid-phase catalysis as a novel strategy to enhance Al-based bioelectrolyte battery performance.

Findings

Ultrasonic catalysis increases battery peak power by more than 10-fold.

Using artificial sweat as electrolyte, peak power improves by about 5-fold with ultrasound.

The method shows promise for self-powered biosensors and wearable devices.

Abstract

Al-based batteries have been particularly attractive for integration with bioelectrolytes such as sweat and tears, enabling portable and biocompatible power sources. However, their practical applications are severely constrained by sluggish mass transfer and reaction kinetics at the catalytic electrode interface. In this study, we present a compact ultrasound-catalyzed Al-based bioelectrolyte battery (ABBB) to overcome this limitation, for which the catalysis mechanisms arise from the synergistic effects of acoustic pressure, acoustic streaming, and ultrasonic stirring for jointly accelerating interfacial mass transport and electrode reaction kinetics. Experimental results show that the ultrasonic liquid-phase catalysis can dramatically improve battery discharge performance, with peak power enhanced by higher than one order of amplitude (10-fold). Notably, when the artificial sweat mimicking human sweat composition is employed as the electrolyte, the peak power can be enhanced by approximately 5-fold under the ultrasonic excitation, highlighting its feasibility for practical biofluid-powered systems. This work establishes a novel physical-field catalytic strategy for boosting ABBB performance and provides a solid foundation for their applications in self-powered biosensors, wearable medical devices, and green electronic technologies.

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