干电池，如典型的AA、AAA和D，锂离子电池，如9伏、AA、C，是当今世界最常用的电池形式。根据伊利诺伊大学的数据，美国人每年购买大约30亿块干电池，用于收音机、玩具、笔记本电脑、手表和便携式工具。
With the boom of smart gadgets and electric vehicles, and an environmental and ethical problem arises. Few of the billions of batteries used annually get recycled. Many states require the recycling of lead-acid batteries where roughly 90% gets recycled. However, the most commonly used lithium-ion batteries are not.
随着智能设备和电动汽车的蓬勃发展，环境和道德问题也随之产生。每年使用的数十亿块电池中，很少能有可回收利用的。许多州要求回收铅酸电池，其中大约90%得到回收。然而，最常用的锂离子电池却不是。
The disposal of the batteries isn't the only problem. Mining for the minerals used in your everyday battery causes abundant harm to the environment.
电池的处理不是唯一的问题。开采日常电池中使用的矿物质也会对环境造成极大的危害。
Eco-Friendly Green Protein Batteries are the Future
环保型绿色蛋白质电池是未来的发展方向
A study published by researchers from Texas A& M University on the journal Nature, entitled "Polypeptide organic radical batteries" suggests that a new biological battery that runs on proteins could be the key to solving the billions of battery problems. The newly designed batteries are non-toxic and use no metals which remove unnecessary mining damage to the environment. In addition, it degrades easily and can be recycled simply by dissolving in an acidic solution.
德克萨斯农工大学的研究人员在《自然》杂志上发表了一篇题为“多肽有机自由基电池”的研究报告，指出一种以蛋白质为基础的新型生物电池可能是解决数十亿电池问题的关键。新设计的电池无毒，不使用金属，消除了不必要的采矿对环境的损害。此外，它很容易降解，只需在酸性溶液中溶解即可回收。
According to estimates, with the rising growth of batteries in the market, the world could soon face 15 million metric tons of discarded lit-ion batteries by 2030. And if business continues as usual, most of these batteries will end up in landfills.
据估计，随着电池市场的不断增长，到2030年，世界可能很快面临1500万公吨废弃的锂离子电池。按照常规，这些电池中的大部分将被填埋。
In a press release, senior author Jodie Lutkenhaus from the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University explains that the rate of lithium-ion batteries getting recycled is still in the single digits today.
德克萨斯农工大学化学系的资深作家朱迪·卢特肯豪斯(Jodie Lutkenhaus)在一份新闻稿中解释说，锂离子电池的回收率目前仍处于个位数。
Lutkenhaus with her colleagues' designed new battery chemistry from the ground up. Using proteins known as polypeptides researchers made two electrodes that pass electrons to and from each other during charging and decay.
卢特肯豪斯和她的同事们从头开始设计了新的电池化学。利用被称为多肽的蛋白质，研究人员制作了两个电极，在充电和衰变过程中相互传递电子。
The electrodes are stable during the operation of the battery. However, they will degrade on demand once submerged in an acidic solution that gives off amino acids and other building blocks of life, that can later be recycled to form new batteries.
电极在电池运行期间是稳定的。然而，一旦被浸泡在酸性溶液中，它们就会按需降解，释放出氨基酸和其他构成生命的物质，这些物质随后可以被循环利用，形成新的电池。
The degradation process is benign to the batteries, which means whether these batteries are tossed in a landfill or in the environment they will harmlessly dissolve intuitively.
降解过程对电池是良性的，这意味着无论这些电池被扔进垃圾填埋场还是在环境中，它们都会直观地无害地溶解。
Protein-based green batteries are currently performing at 1/3rd as Lithium-ion batteries. However, the eco-friendly batteries' performance matches other popular metal-free batteries.
目前，这种蛋白质绿色电池的性能变现还只是锂离子电池的三分之一。然而，环保电池的性能与其他流行的无金属电池相匹配。
Researchers say that the newly developed eco-friendly protein batteries could be the first step to achieving sustainable batteries in the long run to achieve a circular economy that will benefit from polypeptide-based batteries.
研究人员表示，新开发的生态友好型蛋白质电池可能是实现可持续电池的第一步，从长远来看，实现循环经济将受益于多肽电池。
