KAIST research team makes batteries from vitamin B2

Article  |  Spring 2014

Throughout human history, interdisciplinary research on fundamental processes occurring in nature has provided insights into technology innovation. For example, highly optimized light harvesting systems in nature inspired the development of efficient and cost-effective organic solar cells. Biological metabolism comprises energy transduction machineries that operate by a series of redox-active components for storing energies from nutrients, which are transduced into high energy intermediates for cellular activities such as chemical synthesis, transport, and movement. Inspired by the natural redox reaction in biological metabolism, a KAIST team led by Professor Chan Beum Park succeeded designing high performance energy storage materials in collaboration with Professor Kisuk Kang at Seoul National University, and the results of their research were recently published in the August issue of Angewande Chemie, International Edition (52:8322-8328, 2013) as a cover article.

Flavins, a key redox element in cellular energy transduction, facilitate proton-coupled electron transfer reactions in respiration and photosynthesis. Riboflavin (also known as vitamin B2) is the redox active moiety of flavin cofactors, and its protonation/deprotonation represents a key mechanism for storing and transducing energies in biological systems. The research team discovered that the protonation sites of a riboflavin can reversibly capture two lithium ions. It has been demonstrated that the capacity and voltage can be tuned by the substitution of flavin cofactors, which opens up new principles in electrode design. This kind of bio-electrode is unprecedented and is particularly unexpected for lithium batteries. The ground-breaking work bridges the energy storage mechanism between biology and synthetic technology. It also brings together broad scientific disciplines including materials science, biology, and chemistry.