環(huán)保型綠色蛋白質電池是未來的發(fā)展方向

Dry-cell batteries such as your typical AA, AAA, and D, lithium-ion batteries such as 9-volt, AA, C are the most common forms of batteries used in today's world. Americans annually purchase roughly 3 billion dry-cell batteries for everyday use on radios, toys, laptop computers, watches, and portable tools according to the University of Illinois.

干電池，如典型的AA、AAA和D，鋰離子電池，如9伏、AA、C，是當今世界最常用的電池形式。根據(jù)伊利諾伊大學的數(shù)據(jù)，美國人每年購買大約30億塊干電池，用于收音機、玩具、筆記本電腦、手表和便攜式工具。

With the boom of smart gadgets and electric vehicles, and an environmental and ethical problem arises. Few of the billions of batteries used annually get recycled. Many states require the recycling of lead-acid batteries where roughly 90% gets recycled. However, the most commonly used lithium-ion batteries are not.

隨著智能設備和電動汽車的蓬勃發(fā)展，環(huán)境和道德問題也隨之產生。每年使用的數(shù)十億塊電池中，很少能有可回收利用的。許多州要求回收鉛酸電池，其中大約90%得到回收。然而，最常用的鋰離子電池卻不是。

The disposal of the batteries isn't the only problem. Mining for the minerals used in your everyday battery causes abundant harm to the environment.

電池的處理不是唯一的問題。開采日常電池中使用的礦物質也會對環(huán)境造成極大的危害。

Eco-Friendly Green Protein Batteries are the Future

環(huán)保型綠色蛋白質電池是未來的發(fā)展方向

A study published by researchers from Texas A& M University on the journal Nature, entitled "Polypeptide organic radical batteries" suggests that a new biological battery that runs on proteins could be the key to solving the billions of battery problems. The newly designed batteries are non-toxic and use no metals which remove unnecessary mining damage to the environment. In addition, it degrades easily and can be recycled simply by dissolving in an acidic solution.

德克薩斯農工大學的研究人員在《自然》雜志上發(fā)表了一篇題為“多肽有機自由基電池”的研究報告，指出一種以蛋白質為基礎的新型生物電池可能是解決數(shù)十億電池問題的關鍵。新設計的電池無毒，不使用金屬，消除了不必要的采礦對環(huán)境的損害。此外，它很容易降解，只需在酸性溶液中溶解即可回收。

According to estimates, with the rising growth of batteries in the market, the world could soon face 15 million metric tons of discarded lit-ion batteries by 2030. And if business continues as usual, most of these batteries will end up in landfills.

據(jù)估計，隨著電池市場的不斷增長，到2030年，世界可能很快面臨1500萬公噸廢棄的鋰離子電池。按照常規(guī)，這些電池中的大部分將被填埋。

In a press release, senior author Jodie Lutkenhaus from the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University explains that the rate of lithium-ion batteries getting recycled is still in the single digits today.

德克薩斯農工大學化學系的資深作家朱迪·盧特肯豪斯(Jodie Lutkenhaus)在一份新聞稿中解釋說，鋰離子電池的回收率目前仍處于個位數(shù)。

Lutkenhaus with her colleagues' designed new battery chemistry from the ground up. Using proteins known as polypeptides researchers made two electrodes that pass electrons to and from each other during charging and decay.

盧特肯豪斯和她的同事們從頭開始設計了新的電池化學。利用被稱為多肽的蛋白質，研究人員制作了兩個電極，在充電和衰變過程中相互傳遞電子。

The electrodes are stable during the operation of the battery. However, they will degrade on demand once submerged in an acidic solution that gives off amino acids and other building blocks of life, that can later be recycled to form new batteries.

電極在電池運行期間是穩(wěn)定的。然而，一旦被浸泡在酸性溶液中，它們就會按需降解，釋放出氨基酸和其他構成生命的物質，這些物質隨后可以被循環(huán)利用，形成新的電池。

The degradation process is benign to the batteries, which means whether these batteries are tossed in a landfill or in the environment they will harmlessly dissolve intuitively.

降解過程對電池是良性的，這意味著無論這些電池被扔進垃圾填埋場還是在環(huán)境中，它們都會直觀地無害地溶解。

Protein-based green batteries are currently performing at 1/3rd as Lithium-ion batteries. However, the eco-friendly batteries' performance matches other popular metal-free batteries.

目前，這種蛋白質綠色電池的性能變現(xiàn)還只是鋰離子電池的三分之一。然而，環(huán)保電池的性能與其他流行的無金屬電池相匹配。

Researchers say that the newly developed eco-friendly protein batteries could be the first step to achieving sustainable batteries in the long run to achieve a circular economy that will benefit from polypeptide-based batteries.

研究人員表示，新開發(fā)的生態(tài)友好型蛋白質電池可能是實現(xiàn)可持續(xù)電池的第一步，從長遠來看，實現(xiàn)循環(huán)經濟將受益于多肽電池。