| Researchers at the University of Friborg (Switzerland), the University of Michigan and the University of California, San Diego, used biologic 3D to print a 110-volt electric eel-sensing device made of hydrogel that published their findings last week in San Francisco, California .  Electric eel is one of the most fascinating creatures in the oceans and is the only species in the genus that has three pairs of electricity-producing abdominal organs that can be used to protect itself or the corona of prey. Inspired by the unique saury, a group of researchers Now that 3D bio-printing technology has been used to create a soft power supply that mimics an electric eel, the science behind the electric eel is intriguing: Within the marine life, ions, charged atoms or molecules aggregate on either side of the cell membrane to form an ion gradient and The potential or voltage can be collected from the potential on the ion gradient. In a process called "transmembrane transport," eel uses this process to generate its own electricity. Researchers hope to do the same thing in a man-made structure that uses a bio-3D printer to stack hydrogels filled with salt water of different intensities.The more hydrogels they stack with the 3D bio-printer, the higher the voltage they generate and eventually they create A system that produces 110 volts. Complex bioprinting techniques involve depositing an array of gel precursor droplets onto a plastic substrate and then curing them with UV light to convert them into a solid gel.Through alternating high and low salinity Gel, alternately using cation-selective and anion-selective gels on another substrate, the researchers made one that can be used to create the impressive 612 tetrameric gel cell.
'We are now in the tens to hundreds of microamperes, which is too low for most electronic devices,' said Anirvan Guha, a graduate student at the Adolphe Merkle Institute at the University of Friborg, but further research is likely to put This artificial eel becomes something more practical Guha and other researchers believe their work can help develop power supplies for implantable devices such as body boosters such as pacemakers that can 'take advantage of existing gradients in the human body' 'Then you might create a battery that is constantly being recharged,' Guha said, 'because these ion gradients are constantly being rebuilt in the body.' The study will be released this week at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society in San Francisco, California. Source: China 3D printing network |
 |
|