Stretchy batteries inspired by origami could power smartwatches and other wearable electronics.
Newly introduced, stretchy origami-style batteries could power the wearable devices of the future, say researchers who have managed to power a Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 with a battery of their own invention.
The lithium-ion batteries developed by a team from Arizona State University are capable of stretching to 150 percent of their natural size and of powering existing smartwatches.
Scientists worldwide are developing flexible electronics, such as video displays and solar panels that could one day make their way into clothing and even human bodies but a limitation of these devices is the scarcity of equally flexible batteries to power them or store energy they generate.
Although prior research has created bendable batteries, it has proven more challenging to develop ones that are stretchy versions.
Now, inventors have created lithium-ion batteries that can stretch to more than 150 percent of their original size, while remaining capable of powering devices.
The team based the battery design on a very specific form of origami called kirigami.
Kirigami uses a combination of folding and cutting, which helps to keep the surfaces of the battery even , a problem that has interfered with the success of other origami batteries in the past.
In a paper published about the battery’s development in the journal Scientific Reports, the team explains that fractures caused by other origami techniques are “suppressed by plastic rolling”. This, the researchers add, “provides kirigami LIBs (lithium-ion batteries) excellent electrochemical and mechanical characteristics”. This stretchy, origami battery is not the first of its type, and not even the stretchiest. However, the team claims an advantage by proving that it is compatible with existing manufacturing techniques and commercially available technology.
Previously, we have seen bendable batteries that have shown promise for powering “smart” clothing. But again, if the batteries are not able to stretch with the materials they are embedded into, they are at a disadvantage when compared with stretchy batteries.
Malleability is only one factor when identifying technologies compatible with smart textiles.
The demonstration of stretchable kirigami LIBs in a Samsung smart watch only represents one application of this type of stretchable energy sources that fully utilise the mainstream manufacturing capability.
Other applications may include smart bracelets and smart headbands, among many others.
It is expected that the kirigami LIBs are able to resolve one of the bottlenecks in the development of wearable devices by providing a scalable solution for a stretchable energy source to profoundly change the form factor.
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