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| Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos in his laboratory at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory holding a phone powered by a microbial fuel cell stack |
They have created a fuel cell that uses bacteria to break down
the liquid waste to generate electricity.
They were then able to plug in a mobile phone to charge up its
battery.
The device is currently slightly larger than a car battery, but
the researchers believe they will be able to make smaller and more portable
versions.
It could mean that dropping your mobile phone down the lavatory
will not be the disaster it currently but more of a way of getting some power
to make a call.
However, the prospect of more people using their mobile phone while
in the lavatory will make some uneasy as it is already considered to be the
height of bad manners.
Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos, an engineer at the Bristol Robotics
Laboratory at the University of West England who has developed the fuel cell
with colleagues at Bristol University, said: “No one has harnessed power from
urine to do this so it's an exciting discovery.
The beauty
of this fuel source is that we are not relying on the erratic nature of the
wind or the sun; we are actually reusing waste to create energy.
“One product
that we can be sure of an unending supply is our own urine.”
The
researchers, whose findings are published in the Royal Society of Chemistry
journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, grew bacteria on specially made
carbon fibre anodes that were inserted inside ceramic cylinders to create a
battery-like circuit.
When urine
was passed through the cylinders, the bacteria broke down the sugar and other
chemicals it contained down to produce electrons, building up a small
electrical charge inside the fuel cell.
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| The microbial fuel cell |
This was
then passed to a capacitor, which stored the electrical power.
When a
standard Samsung mobile phone was plugged in, it was charged up.
Currently
the amount of electricity produced is relatively small – enough to make one
call on the mobile phone.
However, the
researchers said it cost them around £1 to produce a functioning fuel cell, so
such devices could provide a new cheap form of generating power.
The bacteria
used in the fuel cells are the same as those normally found in waste water
treatment plants.
It is hoped,
however, that the project, which has been funded using public money from the
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Gates Foundation,
the charity set up by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, could lead to a new way of
creating energy from human waste.
They believe
the technology could be installed into bathrooms to help power domestic devices
such as showers, lighting and razors.
An estimated
38 billion litres of urine are produced by animals and livestock each day.
Dr
Ieropoulos said: “We have been pursuing a nyumber of different applications.
"One
would be to put these into domestic situations or it could be used in remote
regions of the developing world.
"The
fuel cells we have used to charge a mobile phone with hold around 50ml of urine
but the smallest we have had working in the laboratory hold 1ml, so we can make
them a lot smaller.
"Our
aim is to have something that can be carried around easily."
He added:
“So far the microbial fuel power stack that we have developed generates enough
power to enable SMS messaging, web browsing and to make a brief phone call.
“Making a
call on a mobile phone takes up the most energy but we will get to the place
where we can charge a battery for longer periods.
“The concept
has been tested and it works – it's now for us to develop and refine the
process so that we can develop MFCs to fully charge a battery.
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