D.G. Mackanic
Anthro Energy,
United States
Keywords: batteries, flexible electronics, polymer electrolyte, wearables, advanced materials
Summary:
Flexible batteries are a necessary component of flexible and hybrid electronics, and promise to enable an era of advanced wearables and connected devices. However, the design of materials for enabling flexible batteries is quite challenging. Each component of the battery stack must be engineered to exhibit myriad properties including; mechanical robustness, strain capability, high electron/ion conductivity, safety, and manufacturability. In this presentation, Anthro Energy will showcase our advanced materials engineering platform that allows us to create highly tunable battery components that meet the necessary criteria to enable flexible batteries. Using this approach, we have fabricated flexible lithium ion batteries that can flex over 20,000 times at bending radii as low as 10mm. The materials exhibit excellent ion/electron transport properties, delivering energy at rates up to 2C and at temperatures below 0C. The materials are safe and nonflammable, another important advantage for flexible batteries. The stability of our engineering platform is further demonstrated with over 600 charge/discharge cycles. Furthermore, the materials are fully compatible with existing battery manufacturing infrastructure. The result is a high-performance flexible LIB that is suitable for a wide variety of applications in flexible electronics ,wearables, and beyond.