Crab Shell Batteries

Listen, I know that California is not going to allow the sale of gas-powered cars after 2035, at which point I will be 84, and not even being mentioned as a host for any game show or a lead part on a soap opera. I probably won't be driving anyway, and if I can't buy a new internal combustion car, I'll get a beater somewhere and drive it around.

And in other news, science has figured out that they can make batteries out of old crab shells. (The ones filled with crabmeat are way too expensive).

And one of my great cultural shortcomings is a total lack of familiarity with the show "Sponge Bob," beyond the name. Apparently it involves sea creatures running around doing things we all do, but the cartoon that I most relate to is "Top Cat," and I don't want to start a new show.

So I can't draw the connection between this dream of crab batteries and Sponge Bob, but it seems that the fact is, the journal called "Matter" (I guess I should subscribe, but it doesn't matter), they write that researchers claim to have made a biodegradable battery with something found in crab and lobster shells - a great use for empty crustaceans!

In any battery, there has to be an electrolyte between the two terminals at either end. That's how they work: they send ions racing between the positive and negative terminals, and that's how they make electricity to power your phone or flashlight or whatever.

Regular "conventional" batteries - known as lead or lithium batteries  - have been the standards for years, but they come with issues. We will need to make great batteries to run electric cars, but the traditional electrolytes have problems:

•  Recycling them is a gigantic hassle
•  Electrolytes are not biodegradable, so they will be around   forever
•  They can explode or start fires.
•  There are problems with the mining process we use to get lithium out of the ground. 

So how do crabs and lobsters fit in? They have a material in their exoskeletons called chitin. That's what makes the shells hard and tough. With chitin, science can make a derivative called chitosan. Combine chitosan with zinc, and you have a new electrolyte that can run your Walkman for 400 hours.

Or your cell phone, or your game machine.

And what's more, this gunk will break down in five months, leaving just the zinc, which can be recycled and used again!

“In the future, I hope all components in batteries are biodegradable,” says lead author Liangbing Hu, director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Materials Innovation. “Not only the material itself but also the fabrication process of biomaterials.”

This sounds like something to make us hopeful. And don't worry about your crab platter becoming even more expensive...we can also extract that precious chitin from fungi and squid.

So, maybe soon we will be driving to the seafood restaurant and already have the scent of Old Bay Seasoning in the car!