According to the press release, the devices can [...]]]> Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed thin, flexible energy storage devices consisting of more than 90 percent cellulose. The paper is infused with aligned carbon nanotubes (electrodes), and an electrolyte (e.g. an ionic liquid). The technology allows to fabricate batteries, supercapacitors, or devices which combine both functions.

According to the press release, the devices can be biocompatible

and these new hybrid battery/supercapcitors have potential as power supplies for devices implanted in the body. The team printed paper batteries without adding any electrolytes, and demonstrated that naturally occurring electrolytes in human sweat, blood, and urine can be used to activate the battery device.
“It’s a way to power a small device such as a pacemaker without introducing any harsh chemicals – such as the kind that are typically found in batteries — into the body,” Pushparaj said.

Regarding manufacturing:

The materials required to create the paper batteries are inexpensive, Murugesan said, but the team has not yet developed a way to inexpensively mass produce the devices. The end goal is to print the paper using a roll-to-roll system similar to how newspapers are printed.

The work has been published in PNAS (Flexible energy storage devices based on nanocomposite paper), and a patent has been filed.

The patented QTL bioconjugate enables quantitative detection of a diverse range [...]]]>

QTL Biosystems announced that it is has been awarded a utility patent US 6,743,640 for a fluorescent polymer-QTL [Quencher-Tether-Ligand] approach to sensing target biological agents. [...] The platform utilizes changes in polymer fluorescence (polymer “superquenching”) in the presence or absence of a target biological agent.

The patented QTL bioconjugate enables quantitative detection of a diverse range of targets such as enzymes, small molecule ligands, proteins including antibodies and antibody fragments, and DNA. The property altering component of the QTL bioconjugate covers a range of materials ranging from fluorescent dyes to metal complexes and covers electron donors and acceptors as well as “energy transferring moieties.”

[Update:] this pdf file provides some details on their technology.