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Scientists in Sweden have invented a new type of battery that is able to take any shape.
The soft, toothpaste-like battery could transform electronics by fitting into any device, according to the team at Linköping University who developed it.
Potential applications include medical devices, wearable gadgets, and even next-generation robots.
“The texture is a bit like toothpaste,” said Aiman Rahmanudin, assistant professor at Linköping University.
“The material can, for instance, be used in a 3D printer to shape the battery as you please. This opens up for a new type of technology.”
The battery uses electrodes made from lignin – a sustainable byproduct from paper production – making it an environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional lithium-based technologies.
Until now, stretchable batteries have relied on rare, environmentally damaging materials to function.
“Since the materials in the battery are conjugated polymers and lignin, the raw materials are abundant,” said Mohsen Mohammadi, a postdoctoral fellow at LOE who led the research.
“By repurposing a byproduct like lignin into a high value commodity such as a battery material we contribute to a more circular model. So, it’s a sustainable alternative.”
A prototype built by the team was able to stretch to double its original length and charged more than 500 times without significant degradation in performance.
The researchers now plan to continue development of the battery in order to increase the electrical voltage and further improve its utility.
“The battery isn’t perfect. We have shown that the concept works but the performance needs to be improved,” said Assistant Professor Rahmanudin.
“The voltage is currently 0.9 volts. So now we’ll look at using other chemical compounds to increase the voltage.”
The breakthrough battery was detailed in a study, titled ‘Make it flow from solid to liquid: Redox-active electrofluid for intrinsically stretchable batteries’, published in the journal Science Advances on Friday.
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