Researchers have developed a new method for printing batteries on just about any surface. This technology could be vital to powering future electronic devices requiring differently shaped batteries — such as roll-up displays and augmented reality headsets.
The scientists behind the tech are even saying that we might be able to use a 3D printer to print batteries of various shapes in their entirety, including all of the electrodes and electrolyte solutions.
The research team, headed by Sang-Young Lee from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea, recently published a paper in Nano Letters describing the breakthrough.
In creating Li-ion batteries, electrodes and separator membranes are either stacked on top of each other or wound around each other and packed into metallic cases. Then, the cases are injected with liquid electrolytes. This manufacturing method has, however, made it difficult to create oddly shaped batteries.
The new method does not require the use of the liquid electrolyte injection or separator membranes. The electrolyte is instead made out of a paste and the electrodes out of a slurry. The two are printed one after the other onto any surface, and then cured using UV light. This enables the paste and slurry to be printed onto anything, into stencils, or otherwise.
"All battery components, such as cathodes, anodes and electrolytes, can be printed on arbitrary objects of complex geometries, thereby enabling the seamless integration of shape-conformable solid-state rechargeable batteries with various form factors into complex-shaped (such as curvilinear) objects," said Lee in an interview with PhysOrg.
To demonstrate the new technology, the researchers printed a battery in the shape of a heart, as well as another on a set of paper glasses that look like Google Glass.
The batteries have similar properties to other flexible batteries on the market, offering decent long-term storage and 90 percent capacity retention after 30 cycles. Of course, this doesn't mean that the tech won't continue to be developed. Going forward, the scientists hope to improve things like energy density and battery life.
This kind of technology could become invaluable in time, especially with things like bendable smartphones and wearable devices. One such possible use could be for the band of a smartwatch, saving space in the body of the device.
Via: PhysOrg
Image: Razor512 | Flickr
