One of the best inventions of 2023, according to the Time magazine ranking, is Italian: it is the first edible and rechargeable battery, developed by the Italian Institute of Technology and it is the first time that a prototype born from an Italian research center receives this recognition.

There are 200 inventions mentioned in the ranking, organized into 22 categories that include artificial intelligence and robotics, sustainability and transportation, well-being and food.

Smart canes to help elderly people walk better, artificial intelligence systems to protect wild animals, an incredible zoo made of holograms and an anti-wrinkle cosmetic with a prolonged effect: these are some of the inventions selected together with the edible batteries born in Italy.

The prototype was developed at the IIT center in Milan by Mario Caironi's group and the project won funding from the European Research Council. The battery, made with materials that are usually consumed at the table, such as almonds, capers and algae, was described in March 2023 in the journal Advanced Materials and in a few months it was featured in 250 news articles in the press around the world. The Time ranking includes it in the category reserved for special mentions.

“I am very happy and also very surprised that Time has selected us; therefore, it is even more a satisfaction for the entire research group, which I thank,” commented Caironi, who coordinates the Printed and Molecular Electronics Laboratory at the IIT Center in Milan. The activity of his laboratory focuses on the study of the electronic properties of foods to obtain new edible electronic materials. “In research, especially when you travel along little-traveled paths, it is not a given – added Caironi – on the one hand to obtain results, on the other that these are noticed so quickly.This motivates us even more to continue.