“We collected bio-waste in the form of hard, raw fish scales from a fish processing market, and then used a de-mineralization process for making them transparent and flexible,” Assistant Professor at Organic Nano-Piezoelectric Device Laboratory, Dipankar Mandal told IANS, speaking about a recent development by a team of researchers at Jadavpur University. The Indian scientists have found a way to create a biodegradable harvester that draws energy from fish scales. This green and clean energy can further be used as a sustainable source for energy for implantable medical devices.

It is an incredible achievement with tremendous value as this energy harvester could even possibly replace medical pacemakers in the future. As reported by The Hindu, fish scales contain high collagen fibres which under mechanical stress can generate electric charges; “The researchers have synthesised flexible bio-piezoelectric nanogenerator (BPNG) from this bio-waste,” reads the publications report.

Fish scales that are usually discarded as waste material contribute hugely to the level of environmental pollution and this nanogenerator does not only create the possibility of e-waste production but is also said to show promise in further being used in transparent electronics, biodegradable electronic, edible electronic, as well as in implanted medical devices, medical surgeries and a number of portable electronics.

“In the future, our goal is to implant a bio-piezoelectric nanogenerator into a heart for pacemaker devices, where it will continuously generate power from heartbeats for the device’s operation,” stated Mandal. “It will then degrade when no longer needed. Since heart tissue is also composed of collagen, our bio-piezoelectric nanogenerator is expected to be very compatible with the heart.”

For more information click here to read the complete report by IANS.