Biodegradable and bioresorbable rechargeable batteries: chemistries, AI-driven material discovery, and emerging applications

Biodegradable and bioresorbable rechargeable batteries are emerging as key enabling technologies for transforming the manner in which electronic systems are powered when device retrieval, recycling, or long-term persistence is a challenge or undesirable. This review integrates recent advances in materials engineering and artificial intelligence for creating "green-by-design" secondary batteries that operate safely in the environment and on/within living organisms for a desired timeline before naturally disintegrating into non-toxic materials. The discussion first surveys sustainable chemistries and architectures that collectively enable rechargeable operation and degradation of spent batteries into benign ions and small molecules. Subsequent sections examine how established lithium-ion battery informatics can be repurposed for biodegradable alternatives. Specifically, these sections explore how workflows for property prediction, multi-objective optimization, and literature mining can integrate explicit constraints regarding battery lifetime and environmental toxicity. The review concludes by outlining grand challenges and research priorities required to transition biodegradable secondary batteries from laboratory exemplars into practical power sources intrinsically aligned with their biological and ecological contexts.