Researchers have created an ultra-thin, high-performance, flexible battery which could be used in smartphones and wearable products.
The effort was made by researchers at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and was achieved by generating high performance electrodes using a 900 nanometer fluoride nickel layer as a substrate in which 5 nanometer nanometers were etched.
They then enclosed the electrodes in an electrolyte made of potassium hydroxide in polyvinyl alcohol.
According to Rice scientists, the device has the capacity to behave like a battery, although its structure resembles that of a super-capacitor.
More specifically, it can be charged and discharged very quickly, like a supercapacitor, or it can be charged at a slower rate and offer slow discharge.charging, behaving like a battery.
The device is one-hundredth of an inch thick and was measured to retain 76% of its original capacity after 10.000 charge-discharges and 1.000 bends. The performance energy was measured at 384 Wh/kg, while the power output was measured at 112 kW/kg.
This technology could be used on wearable devices due to low weight and compact dimensions, but also on flexible electronic devices such as future smartwatches and smartphones.
Rice researchers are already in discussions with several companies, which have shown interest in introducing it to mass partreatment the specific technology. The study was published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Source: naftemporiki.gr