A primary battery-on-a-chip using monolayer graphene.
We present here a bottom-up approach for realizing on-chip on-demand batteries starting out with chemical vapor deposition-grown graphene. Single graphene monolayers contacted by electrode lines on a silicon chip serve as electrodes. The anode and cathode are realized by electrodeposition of zinc and copper respectively onto graphene, leading to the realization of a miniature graphene-based Daniell cell on a chip. The electrolyte is housed partly in a gel and partly in liquid form in an on-chip enclosure molded using a 3d printer or made out of poly(dimethylsiloxane). The realized batteries provide a stable voltage (∼1.1 V) for many hours and exhibit capacities as high as 15 μAh, providing enough power to operate a pocket calculator. The realized batteries show promise for deployment as on-chip power sources for autonomous systems in lab-on-a-chip or biomedical applications.
Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstrasse 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany. Instituto de Química de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, 13560-970, Brazil.
Rodrigo M
RM
Iost
Frank N
FN
Crespilho
Klaus
K
Kern
Kannan
K
Balasubramanian