Flexible Pouch Battery With CNT Electrodes for Wearable Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional battery designs fail to provide flexible, thin, and high-energy-density power solutions suitable for wearable devices, which require mechanical flexibility, comfort, and real-time monitoring capabilities across various applications.
Innovation Solution
A flexible battery design featuring a pouch cell configuration with anode and cathode composite materials in three-dimensional cross-linked carbon nanotube networks, eliminating current collectors and using a flexible separator membrane, allowing for self-standing electrodes that can be bent, rolled, or folded without capacity loss, and serving as a substrate for integrating electronic devices like sensors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional battery designs use electrodes printed on metal foils with rigid enclosures, then structural strength is improved, but flexibility and thinness are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces rigid metal foil current collectors with flexible thin film substrates, allowing the battery to be bent, folded, and stretched while maintaining structural integrity. The thin film encapsulation enables the battery to conform to wearable device surfaces without compromising strength
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structures combining flexible substrates with energy storage layers, creating a multi-layer composite that provides both mechanical strength and flexibility. The composite design integrates different materials to achieve optimal balance between durability and adaptability
2Use of energy by moving object
If battery energy density is increased to cover μWh to kWh range, then power capability is improved, but device thickness and rigidity are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from traditional three-dimensional rigid battery structures to two-dimensional flexible thin film configurations, enabling high energy density storage in a thin profile. This dimensional change allows the battery to provide substantial energy capacity while maintaining minimal thickness suitable for wearable applications
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the battery into multiple thin functional layers (electrode layers, electrolyte layers, encapsulation layers) that can be stacked to achieve desired energy density. This segmentation allows incremental energy capacity building while maintaining overall thinness through layered architecture
3Quantity of substance
If batteries are designed for large area coverage, then energy capacity is improved, but mechanical flexibility and comfort are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides large area batteries into multiple smaller flexible units or modules that can be arranged in arrays. Each small unit maintains high flexibility and comfort, while the collective arrangement provides the required total energy capacity for large area coverage
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses flexible thin film encapsulation that allows the battery to conform to body contours and move with the wearer. This flexibility ensures comfort even when covering large areas, as the thin film adapts to surface geometry and motion without creating rigidity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The flexible battery provides reliable power to wearable devices, maintaining charge-discharge capacity across various configurations and enabling comfortable, real-time monitoring of physiological parameters with enhanced mechanical strength and flexibility.
Implementation Method 1
an anode including an anode composite material having anode active material particles in a three-dimensional cross-linked network of carbon nanotubes; a cathode including a cathode composite material having cathode active material particles in a three-dimensional cross-linked network of carbon nanotubes
Implementation Method 2
a flexible separator membrane between the anode and the cathode
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to devices integrated with flexible batteries wherein the flexible batteries can be wearable and can provide an integration platform for various electronic devices.