A micro-scale microbial supercapacitor

Abstract

We report a MEMS microbial supercapacitor, aiming for a carbon-neutral renewable miniaturized electrochemical power converter. Microbial electrochemical technologies have been studied for years, yet the current and power density of them are still significantly lower than those of existing energy conversion techniques, which limits their potential applications. This work presents a microbial supercapacitor with a graphene-inserted anode having current and power density of more than one order of magnitude enhancement over prior art, to meet high current and power demand. Current and power density of 450 A/m2, and 202.5 W/m2 are achieved, which is more than 15 and 29 folds of the previous records of microbial electrochemical techniques, delivering the micro-scale microbial supercapacitor as an attractive alternative to existing energy conversion and storage device.