Elastic Battery

Wearable electronics and “smart” clothes are the wave of the future as new technologies continue to emerge that are capable of discreetly monitoring vital signs and other health-related information. But the question remains: Where do we get the power to keep these things running? Clearly, bulky batteries are not the ideal solution, so researchers in China have set out to develop a battery that can be woven right into the garment – in fact, it could become the garment.

The yarn-like lithium-ion battery is made up of wires that are fabricated by nesting carbon nanotubes inside each other. Pairs of these wires are then coated with lithium titanium oxide and lithium manganese oxide nanoparticles to create an anode and a cathode. The pairs are twisted together, separated by an electrolyte gel and a strip of insulating material to form a battery. The researchers reported that a 10-centimeter (4-inch) long thread could power an LED for up to a minute, and weighs only 0.08 grams.

To make it more fracture-resistant, the battery was then coiled around an elastic thread. The resulting “yarn” could be pulled and bent hundreds of times without degrading its performance.

While previous fiber-like batteries have been documented, most of them utilize copper and aluminum wire. The ability to achieve this level of performance without the need for metallic components makes this latest advance more desirable for use in conductive textile applications.