You could be using “virus batteries” to power your cars, cell phones, or other electronic devices, sometime in future! Well, the researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have announced that they have developed futuristic low cost batteries using viruses.

Just a few weeks after MIT announced the invention of quick charging lithium-ion batteries that can be charged in seconds instead of hours, the MIT scientists have announced the invention of “virus batteries”. The MIT scientists have stated that they have depended on viruses to develop cheep batteries that will be used to hybrid cars and several mobile electronic devices in the time to come. The MIT scientists have claimed that they have blended nanotechnology and genetically engineered viruses to develop batteries could be used to power small cars and mobile devices.   

According Cambridge, MA based MIT, the researchers have used the viruses, which can infect bacteria but harmless to humans, to create positively and negatively charged ends of lithium-ion batteries. The “virus batteries” have the energy capacity and power performance similar to the rechargeable batteries.

In its report on the invention of “virus batteries,” the MIT said, "In lab tests, batteries with the new cathode material could be charged and discharged at least 100 times without losing any capacitance.” The report has appeared in the Thursday's online edition of Science.

Angela Belcher, the MIT materials scientist who led the research on virus batteries, stated that the new “virus batteries” are equal to conventional advanced batteries in power and performance. The virus batteries “could be synthesized at and below room temperature,” required no harmful organic solvents; the materials used in these batteries are non-toxic. Belcher reported that the engineered viruses, w

According to MIT report, the engineered viruses, which could coat themselves with cobalt oxide and gold to create an anode and then self-assemble to build a nanowire, were developed years ago, but the scientists, in the current research, engineered viruses, which can coat themselves with iron phosphate. The researchers used carbon nanotubes to develop network of highly conductive material. The electron travel along carbon nanotubes networks to transfer the energy quickly. According to researchers, the batteries based on virus technology would be lightweight and flexible enough to be shaped according to any container.

Susan Hockfield, the MIT President, presented a prototype of the virus battery at White House, last week, and sought the funding for clean-energy technologies from Obama administration.