Graphene batteries are developing into the next big improvement in our everyday devices. As opposed to Lithium-ion, these have the potential to improve the performance of our gadgets, but their disposal (like that of their counterparts) is also going to be a hazardous problem. This is where a new biodegradable fungal battery from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) may help.

Courtesy of this breakthrough by Swiss researchers, fungi – which can feed on sugar instead of charging – could be used to power devices in the near future. This is achieved through a 3D printed fungi for battery, which is biodegradable. It can digest itself from the inside once it has served its life purpose, a researcher suggests.

Designer: Empa

The fungal battery is 3D-printed using fungi cells mixed with printing ink (which is nutritious for the fungi and completely biodegradable) that can feed on sugar and be stored in a dried state for transportation and activated by “adding water and nutrients.” This is for the first time, according to the researchers that two types of fungi – yeast fungus for negative (or anode) side and a white rot fungus on the positive (cathode) side – have been combined to create a functioning fuel cell.

“Strictly speaking, the cell is not a battery, but a…microbial fuel cell.” Empa researcher Carolina Reyes informs. The fungi fuel cell has been developed over a period of three years. It does not generate a lot of electricity to maybe power your smartphone today, but can produce enough to “power a temperature sensor for several days.”

So, if you were thinking, these fungi cells are not going to replace the batteries in your everyday devices, instead such batteries when encased in beeswax “can power small sensors to monitor temperature, light, and humidity in agriculture and environmental research in remote areas.” In addition to running devices in the outdoors, these can decompose safely leaving no harmful traces behind. There is no information about making these cells commercially available anytime soon, but the research opens new horizons for the use of fungi to produce electricity and become probable battery alternatives for our portable devices.

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There are a lot of things that you can do in your kitchen including cooking all kinds of recipes of course. But did you think that you can actually create shoes just from using household items and combining them with other biodegradable ingredients. That’s what a designer and educator is trying to teach us through a series of YouTube videos and if you’re the type that likes to experiment, then this would be right up your alley.

Designer: Giestas

The Baking Vegan Slippers are just exactly what the name implies. These are slippers that are made from vegan bioplastics and are put together and baked in an oven. If you have all the ingredients suggested in the YouTube video and you can follow the instructions, then you’ll be able to create your own footwear from the comfort of your kitchen.

The top of the shoe uses alginate which is actually a thickener taken from algae while the sole is made from ground cork and bound with something called agar which is an algae-based gelatin substitute. You can also use things like saffron or black tea to color your slippers. Using these food grade, vegan, and biodegradable materials means we can eventually reduce our reliance on things like plastics and fossil fuels.

Design-wise, the options are still a bit limited although we see some different options for the tops. The designer himself says that when it comes to the long term durability of the Baking Vegan Slippers, it still remains to be seen.

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