A new flexible battery could dramatically change the design of smartwatches and wristbands.
Researchers from Arizona State University have developed stretchable lithium-ion batteries using the concept of kirigami, which is a Japanese paper folding technique combining folding and cutting.
The designated kirigami patterns have been discovered and implemented to achieve great stretchability (over 150%) to lithium-ion batteries that are produced by standardized battery manufacturing.
It is shown that fracture due to cutting and folding is suppressed by plastic rolling, which provides kirigami lithium-ion batteries excellent electrochemical and mechanical characteristics.
The kirigami lithium-ion batteries can be for instance integrated into flexible wristbands dramatically reducing the required size of a smartwatch housing. The researchers have demonstrated in the paper that this kirigami battery can power a Samsung Gear smartwatch.
The research details have been published in Nature Scientific Reports under the title Kirigami-based stretchable lithium-ion batteries.
Via Mail Online
