Could the future of eco-friendly cell phones rely on sugary drinks like Coca-Cola? One Chinese designer seems to think so, debuting a new phone concept that turns the carbohydrates in soda into electricity for a bio-battery.

 

 

Daizi Zheng emphasizes the benefits of his bio-battery over conventional batteries, which contain toxic heavy metals such as lead and cadmium.

 

“Through out my research, I found that phone battery as a power source, it is expensive, consuming valuable resources on manufacturing, presenting a disposal problem and harmful to the environment,” Zheng told Dezeen. “The concept is using bio battery to replace the traditional battery to create a pollution-free environment.”

 

Zheng’s design uses enzymes to transform the carbohydrates from the soda into electricity that powers the phone. The designer says that once the sugars in the drink are used up, what’s left is mostly water.

 

“Bio battery has the potential to operate three to four times longer on a single charge than conventional lithium batteries and it could be fully biodegradable,” Zheng explains.

 

Though Coca-Cola was used for illustrative purposes, it seems that even sugar water would suffice, giving this gadget more potential as a viable green alternative to current cell phone designs.