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June 5, 2018

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Lithium batteries get a 鈥榝lexible鈥 twist

Chinese scientists say they have invented bendable lithium sulfur batteries, paving the way for producing a generation of flexible smart devices.

Traditional batteries are made by pouring liquid electrolytes into solid electrodes, yet the new approach puts electrolytes into ultrathin metal layers to form 3D networks in dishcloth-like materials.

鈥淏y doing this, electrolytes won鈥檛 fall off the networks no matter how you flex or twist the flexible materials,鈥 said Zhang Hongzhang, a researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Zhang and six other researchers published their findings in the journal Advanced Functional Materials in May.

According to Zhang, flexible batteries based on this new approach can raise initial specific discharge capacity up to 1,600 mAh, five times more than most commercial lithium batteries.

Zhang said these batteries should be more stable and resilient, and when used in smart devices such as mobile phones, they could be twisted and bent while still storing large amounts of charge. 鈥淭hese batteries are light and have high energy density. The means of making them is cost effective and can be applied for mass production.鈥


 

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