title: Fabricating genetically engineered high-power lithium-ion batteries using multiple virus genes.
abstract: Development of materials that deliver more energy at high rates is important for high-power applications, including portable electronic devices and hybrid electric vehicles. For lithium-ion (Li+) batteries, reducing material dimensions can boost Li+ ion and electron transfer in nanostructured electrodes. By manipulating two genes, we equipped viruses with peptide groups having affinity for single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) on one end and peptides capable of nucleating amorphous iron phosphate(a-FePO4) fused to the viral major coat protein. The virus clone with the greatest affinity toward SWNTs enabled power performance of a-FePO4 comparable to that of crystalline lithium iron phosphate (c-LiFePO4) and showed excellent capacity retention upon cycling at 1C. This environmentally benign low-temperature biological scaffold could facilitate fabrication of electrodes from materials previously excluded because of extremely low electronic conductivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Yun Jung
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hyunjung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Woo-Jae
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kisuk
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Dong Soo
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Strano
authors.forename: Gerbrand
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ceder
authors.forename: Angela M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Belcher