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Canadian researchers invent wearable battery
09 Feb '12
2 min read
Scientists at the Polytechnic School of Montreal in Canada have developed a battery that can be woven into a garment.
The researchers say an efficient, flexible and lightweight battery source is necessary to weave electronics into a smart textile, which is a combination of textiles and electronics, also called e-textiles.
The battery source should ideally be in the form of a fibre, so it can be woven and integrated into e-textiles.
To build the wearable battery, scientists sandwiched a solid polyethylene oxide electrolyte between a lithium titanate anode and lithium iron phosphate cathode.
Since all the three are thermoplastic materials, they were stretched into a thread by giving a mild heat. Subsequently, the battery films were cut into strips that were 10 cm long and 1 cm wide.
These battery strips were used to weave into a fabric using a manual Dobby loom. The textile electrodes were woven using conductive threads, which connected the battery strips in series.
Cotton threads were used to ensure that the battery remained attached to the surface of the fabric.
Maksim Skorobogatiy, the lead researcher, claims that the new invention is the first fully wearable, soft lithium-ion battery sans liquid electrolytes.
The team of researchers is now planning to use the technology in making backpacks and medical-monitoring garments.
The researchers say an efficient, flexible and lightweight battery source is necessary to weave electronics into a smart textile, which is a combination of textiles and electronics, also called e-textiles.
The battery source should ideally be in the form of a fibre, so it can be woven and integrated into e-textiles.
To build the wearable battery, scientists sandwiched a solid polyethylene oxide electrolyte between a lithium titanate anode and lithium iron phosphate cathode.
Since all the three are thermoplastic materials, they were stretched into a thread by giving a mild heat. Subsequently, the battery films were cut into strips that were 10 cm long and 1 cm wide.
These battery strips were used to weave into a fabric using a manual Dobby loom. The textile electrodes were woven using conductive threads, which connected the battery strips in series.
Cotton threads were used to ensure that the battery remained attached to the surface of the fabric.
Maksim Skorobogatiy, the lead researcher, claims that the new invention is the first fully wearable, soft lithium-ion battery sans liquid electrolytes.
The team of researchers is now planning to use the technology in making backpacks and medical-monitoring garments.
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