A team from Nano Research Energy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China have invented a wearable battery that self-heals damage. They published their report in the June 3, 2024 edition of the Sci-Open journal we link to below. They say their battery performance includes ‘excellent energy and power density, plus a 3,000 charging cycle life’.
The Wearable Battery Survives Ten Self-Healing Cycles
Phys.Org News sees great potential for this invention in smart clothing, fitness trackers, smart watches, and so on. We can just imagine going about our daily routine, knowing our on-board batteries are quietly repairing in the background.
A great deal of battery research has invested in chasing after micro flexible energy, according to Phys.Org News. We too have been watching this story unfold in the next chapter of portable energy. Until now, however, aqueous micro batteries have been in the background, despite being arguably safer than lithium-ion ones. That’s because they historically have poorer energy density, and would therefore need be bulkier.
Moreover, and this is the core issue, we would require an aqueous wearable battery that self-heals after bending and twisting in regular use. Thus far, this has remained out of reach, because the charge carriers were metallic, for example lithium or nickel.
Tsinghua Researchers Challenge a Fundamental Battery Paradigm
The team from Tsinghua University in China investigated the possibility of using non-metallic charge-carriers instead of metal ones. After careful consideration, they decided to focus on using ammonium-ions freely available from inorganic ammonium salts.
These commercially-available salts are far less corrosive than other options they considered, and also boast a wide range of electrochemical stability. The team incorporated their ammonium salts in a polymer hydro gel. Their prototype is self-healing, and has excellent energy and power density they say.
More Information
Healing Lithium-Sulfur Batteries With Iodine
Assessing Battery Health Online
