University of Toronto researchers create vitamin battery

By Nicole Mortillaro

University of Toronto chemist Dwight Seferos shows a lithium-ion battery that stores energy in a biologically-derived unit, that uses flavin from Vitamin B2.
Diana Tyszko/University of Toronto

Chemists from the University of Toronto have developed a vitamin-driven battery.

While it’s not exactly good for your health, it’s still a greener battery compared to those already on the market.




“It’s a pretty safe, natural compound,” said Dwight Seferos, an associate professor in U of T’s Department of Chemistry and Canada Research Chair in Polymer Nanotechnology. “If you wanted to, you could actually eat the source material it comes from.”
This new battery is the first to use bio-derived polymers, long-chained molecules that are comprised of smaller molecules. It is also the first to use flavin from vitamin B2 to store the electricity.
A battery contains three parts: a positive terminal that is connected to a cathode inside a battery casing; a negative terminal that is connected to a anode; and an electrolyte solution where ions travel between the two. So if you’re using a device that requires a battery, electrodes flow from theanode in the device, outward and then into the cathode where the ions travel through the solution in the battery. This creates electrons which in turn provide electricity.
It’s in the cathode where the B2 is used. And the new battery has a high capacity and high voltage.

An example of a lithium ion battery
Wikimedia Commons/ Kristoferb

“We’ve been looking to nature for a while to find complex molecules for use in a number ofconsumer electronics applications,” said Seferos.
At the moment, the prototype is only the size of a hearing aid battery, but the researchers hope that their finding will lead to new, powerful, thin and perhaps even metal-free batteries in the future.