Adding backbone to flexible batteries with a spine

Scientists have designed a flexible battery that mimics the spine of animals, promising for use in a range of wearable electronic devices, according to a study published in Advanced Materials.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are the most common type of batteries used in portable electronic devices because of their high energy densities, and are the preferred energy storage technology for flexible electronics. However, achieving extreme flexibility while retaining their high energy capacity has proved challenging. 

Now, an international team of scientists, including researchers from the University of Tsukuba in Japan, has mimicked the configuration of a spine and designed a battery with a thick, rigid segment of hard electrodes that store energy, wound around a thin flexible plastic ‘backbone’ that connects the vertebrae-like stack of electrodes.

As it maintains power output even while flexing, the battery could be used in wearable technologies like transdermal patches and flexible displays.