The PowerPAD concept, a biodegradable electrochemical battery, presented by scientists of the Instituto de Microelectronica de Barcelona (CSIC), has been awarded by the Elechtrochemical Society ECS and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Neus Sabaté and Juan Pablo Esquivel have been awarded $50,000 at the Electrochemical Energy and Water Summit organized by ECS. In its first “Science for Solving Society’s Problems Challenge,” ECS partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to leverage the brainpower of the many scientists in electrochemistry and solid state science and technology that regularly attend ECS meetings.
ECS awarded $210,000 of seed funding to four innovative research projects addressing critical technology gaps in water, sanitation, and hygiene challenges being faced around the world. The four granted teams were identified during a multi-day workshop at the Electrochemical Energy and Water Summit in Cancun, Mexico held October 5-9, 2014.
A team composed by Neus Sabaté and Juan Pablo Esquivel, from the Instituto de Microelectronica de Barcelona (IMB-CNM), and Erik Kjeang, from the Simon Fraser University (Canada), proposed the development of a non-toxic portable source of power for water monitoring systems, which will not require recycling facilities.
Neus Sabaté explains:”In many places where access to drinkable water is scarce, there is also the problem of pollution. Therefore, devices to detect pollutants in water are needed, to guarantee that water is potable. Many efforts have been done to develop these portable devices but not in the field of biodegradable and low cost energy sources for them.” Using inexpensive materials such as paper, nanoporous carbon electrodes and organic redox species, they will strive to create a biodegradable and even compostable power source.
More info at http://www.ecsblog.org/meetings/its-the-shark-tank-treatment-for-these-scientists/