Korean researchers make 'the world's first imprintable and bendable lithium-ion battery'
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Flexible screens? Check. Flexible chassis and PCBs? Check. Flexible batteries? Checked now. Korean researchers have come up with a process to make "a class of imprintable, bendable, and shape-conformable polymer electrolyte with excellent electrochemical performance in lithium battery system."
These can be sprayed on electrodes, then baked with UV rays for about 30 minutes to create power units - much faster than the traditional way of making lithium-ion cells.
Prof. Lee Sang-young of South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology is the read of the project, working alongside nine more scientists from different places, like Prof. John A. Rogers of the University of Illinois. The Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, which is co-sponsoring the research, said in a press release:
Conventional lithium-ion batteries that use liquefied electrolytes had problems with safety as the film that separates electrolytes may melt under heat, in which case the positive and negative may come in contact, causing an explosion.
Because the new battery uses flexible but solid materials, and not liquids, it can be expected to show a much higher level of stability than conventional rechargeable batteries.
Because the new battery uses flexible but solid materials, and not liquids, it can be expected to show a much higher level of stability than conventional rechargeable batteries.
The kicker compared to some other flexible batteries we've seen, and even conventional batteries - these are stable, even under high temperatures, and easier to manufacture, which is crucial for production versions of the bendy power cells. Stanford also has come up with a non-rigid battery, which you can see demonstrated in the video below, but the new invention sounds much easier to place into a shape-shifting phone at some point.
We are hoping that Samsung is already prepping a grant for the continuation of the research to facilitate the marriage of the bendable cellies with its YOUM brand of flexible displays. What particularly struck us as useful for bendy phones, was the following from the research publication abstract:
The unique structural design and well-tuned rheological characteristics of the UV-curable electrolyte mixture, in combination with direct UV-assisted nanoimprint lithography, allow the successful fabrication of polymer electrolyte in geometries not accessible with conventional materials.
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15 Comments
1. Mxyzptlk posted on 16 Jan 2013, 08:12 9
The only thing that should matter in the end is having sufficient battery life.
14. phonemirer posted on 16 Jan 2013, 14:10 1
zyzz is dead
i wouldnt want a flexible phone like the iphone5
11. rusticguy posted on 16 Jan 2013, 10:42 13
Agreed but only once or twice a year ...
2. MeoCao (unregistered) posted on 16 Jan 2013, 08:14 5
This is big, not for bendable phones but to fill all empty space in the phone with battery.
so phones will have huge battery life.
10. neutralguy posted on 16 Jan 2013, 09:21 2
I think it would be hard to fill those empty spaces because the thing is, this battery can only be bent not mold onto spaces.
5. darktranquillity posted on 16 Jan 2013, 08:49 0
But none of these inventions makes it into a phone, then whats the use?
7. neutralguy posted on 16 Jan 2013, 08:57 2
for now, of course, because they need to do some more effective testing. Also, it is needed to be designed properly to compatibly work with flexible screen and chasis and of course, bendable ICs.
6. darktranquillity posted on 16 Jan 2013, 08:50 0
But none of these inventions makes it into a phone, then whats the use?
