battery pouch with rectangular hole
liangbing hu/teng li
Stretchable flexible battery pouch filled with strategically placed holes is more breathable than cotton. This could make it an ideal power source for wearable sports and fitness devices built directly into clothing.
“This is especially useful for athletes and individuals who wear electronic devices for long periods of time; it is smart clothing for fitness tracking, medical monitoring devices, and similar applications that require both comfort and reliable performance.” I say. Lin Xu At Yale University.
To design the new battery, Xu and his colleagues created a pattern of long rectangular holes in a pouch cell battery. This is a type of lithium battery that resembles a flat bundle with a limited degree of bending ability. Simulations showed how well an array of rectangular holes stretched or folded the battery 180 degrees without tearing compared to alternative hole patterns including squares and circles.
“One challenge was maintaining enough active material to keep the battery’s energy density high. If the holes are too large or too large, the energy storage capacity will be reduced,” Xu said. Masu. “We needed to balance mechanical stretch and electrical performance.”
When stretched or folded by 10%, the hole strong battery design can resist physical stress and withstand power bulbs. Stretching and folding experiments were performed 100 times each. Tests in temperature and humidity chambers also showed that the battery was twice as breathable as cotton.
As a practical demonstration of possible applications, researchers wove the battery into a lab coat and tested its performance while the wearer ran through an exercise. The hole allows the battery to dissipate heat quickly, so the wearer’s skin does not feel sore or sweaty.
Batteries still require more wear-and-tear testing, so researchers plan to test performance on commercial health monitoring devices and sports equipment.
We are also investigating how to best scale up production. Automated manufacturing must be able to provide consistent hole placement and sealing to avoid battery pouch leaks and short circuits.
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