MIT News December 20, 2021
Fibers as fundamental building blocks of fabrics and 3D-printed objects provide unique opportunities for developing pervasive multidimensional power systems. An international team of researchers (USA – MIT, US Army, South Korea) has developed a Li-ion battery fiber, fabricated using a thermal drawing method which occurs with simultaneous flows of multiple complex electroactive gels, particles, and polymers within protective flexible cladding. This top-down approach allows to produce fully functional and arbitrarily long lithium-ion fiber batteries. The continuous 140 m fiber battery demonstrated a discharge capacity of ∼123 mAh and discharge energy of ∼217 mWh. The scalability and material tunability of these fibers position them for use in varied non-planar electronic systems. The fiber battery satisfies the requirements of portable electronics systems as it is machine washable, flexible, usable underwater, and fire/rupture safe. They have demonstrated the powering of a submarine drone, LiFi fabric, and flying drone communication through different rechargeable fiber battery schemes, which paves the way for the emergence of the pervasive battery-powered electronics…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Abstract. Credit: Materials today , December 20, 2021