Researchers have created an ultra-thin, high-performance, flexible battery that could be used in smartphones and wearable products.
The effort was made by researchers at Rice University, in Houston, Texas, and was achieved by creating high-performance electrodes using a 900 nanometer-thick layer of nickel fluoride as a substrate, in which they etched holes with a diameter of 5 nanometers.
They then enclosed the electrodes in an electrolyte made of potassium hydroxide in polyvinyl alcohol.
According to Rice scientists, the device has the ability to behave like a battery, although its structure resembles that of a supercapacitor.
More specifically, it can be charged and discharged very quickly, like a supercapacitor, or it can be charged at slower rates, offering slow discharge, behaving like a battery.
The device is one-hundredth of an inch thick and was measured to be able to retain 76% of its original capacity after 10,000 charge-discharge cycles and 1,000 bends. The energy efficiency was measured at 384 Wh/kg, while the power efficiency was measured at 112 kW/kg.
This particular technology could be used in wearable devices, due to its low weight and compact dimensions, but also in flexible electronic devices, such as future smartwatches and smartphones.
The Rice researchers are already in discussions with several companies that have expressed interest in bringing the technology to mass production. The study was published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Source: naftemporiki.gr
