Stretchable Battery Wavy Structure for Wearables
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current rigid-type lithium batteries are not suitable for wearable electronic devices due to their inability to bend, curve, or stretch, necessitating the development of shape-changeable battery components that maintain energy density and performance.
Innovation Solution
A stretchable battery design featuring a pouch with a metal barrier and an electrode assembly, both having a wavy shape with peaks and valleys, utilizing a porous composite nanofiber separator and an elastomer-filled valley structure to enhance flexibility and energy density.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If rigid components are used to manufacture lithium batteries, then structural strength and stability are improved, but flexibility and shape-changeability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The pouch and electrode assembly are designed with a wavy shape including peaks and valleys instead of a flat rigid structure. This curvature allows the battery to stretch and deform elastically when force is applied, providing shape-changeability while maintaining structural integrity through the distributed wave pattern that prevents stress concentration.
Solution Approach 2:
The pouch is designed as a flexible container that can deform elastically. The thin film structure of the pouch allows it to bend and stretch without breaking, enabling the battery to adapt to different shapes while maintaining its internal components protected within the flexible enclosure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a wavy shape is introduced to enable stretching, then flexibility and stretchability are improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wavy shape is created by dividing the flat battery structure into repeating wave patterns with peaks and valleys. This segmentation approach allows the complex wavy geometry to be manufactured using simple mold pressing during the pouch sealing process, transforming a potentially complex manufacturing challenge into a routine forming operation.
3Quantity of substance
If the pouch and electrode assembly are molded into a wavy shape, then energy density is improved through better material utilization, but manufacturing process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wavy shape is formed during the pouch sealing process itself, rather than as a separate subsequent step. By incorporating the shaping action into the existing sealing operation, the manufacturing process achieves both pouch sealing and geometric forming in one operation, preventing process complexity from increasing despite the unconventional shape.
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 stretchable battery maintains capacity and provides improved charge/discharge characteristics, such as increased discharge capacity, coulombic efficiency, and cycle life, while being easier to manufacture and more suitable for wearable devices.
Implementation Method 1
electrospinning a porous composite nanofiber on a support to prepare a separator
Implementation Method 2
an elastomer-filled valley structure to enhance flexibility
Data Source
AI summary
A stretchable battery includes: a pouch; a metal barrier disposed in the pouch; and an electrode assembly disposed in the pouch and on the metal barrier, wherein the pouch and the electrode assembly each have a wavy shape including a plurality of peaks and valleys.