Development of Magnesium Anode-Based Transient Primary Batteries

Biodegradable primary batteries, also known as transient batteries, are essential to realize autonomous biodegradable electronic devices with high performance and advanced functionality. In this work, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc - metals that exist as trace elements in the human body - were tested as materials for biomedical transient electronic devices. Different full cell combinations of Mg and X (where X = Cu, Fe, and Zn and the anodized form of the metals) with phosphate buffered saline (PBS) as electrolyte were studied. To form the cathodes, metal foils were anodized galvanostatically at a current density of 2.0 mA cm(-2) for 30 mins. Electrochemical measurements were then conducted for each electrode combination to evaluate full cell battery performance. Results showed that the Mg-Cu-anodized chemistry has the highest power density at 0.99 mW/cm(2). Nominal operating voltages of 1.26 V for the first 0.50 h and 0.63 V for the next 3.7 h were observed for Mg-Cu-anodized which was discharged at a current density of 0.70 mA cm(-2). Among the materials tested, Mg-Cu-anodized exhibited the best discharge performance with an average specific capacity of 2.94 mAh cm(-2), which is comparable to previous reports on transient batteries.

Automated summary

Biodegradable primary batteries are crucial for autonomous biodegradable electronic devices, and in this study, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc were tested as materials for transient biomedical electronic devices. Among the materials tested, Mg-Cu-anodized exhibited the best discharge performance with the highest power density and comparable specific capacity.