To All: For those interested in the future potential(no pun intended) of the battery industry the weekly newsmagazine of science, entitled Science News, Feb. 27, 1999, page 140 has a very interesting little tidbit on just where it all may go. It reads as follows:
Enzyme churns out conducting polymers
Polymers that conduct electricity can form the basis of light-weight, inexpensive batteries and electronic components. Their complicated synthesis using organic solvents limits their practicality, however. Now, researchers at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell and the U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command in Natick, Mass., have developed a simple way to synthesize a conducting polymer called polyaniline. The one-step, water-based method could be a cheap, environmentally benign way to make polyaniline on an industrial scale. The researchers use an enzyme to construct the polymer from its building blocks. The method is described in the Jan. 13th Journal of the American Chemical Society.
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My reaction? Hmmmmm, first off, me thinks I'm gonna go buy that Jan. 13th edition. Second off, polymer electronics derived from enzymatic reaction??? Jummmmpin' jeeezus....this is worth keeping an eye on if'n yer a futurist like me with time horizons outwards of 10 years. Just think, enzymatically derived batteries, polymer based electronic components, composite metals(another subject).....woooo weeee....the next 100 years are gonna be sumthin' else!!
John~ |
