28th February 2013 Stretchable battery could power wearable and implantable computers Researchers at Northwestern University have developed the first stretchable lithium-ion battery – a device that could power a new generation of flexible electronics. The power and voltage of the stretchable battery are similar to a conventional lithium-ion battery of the same size, but the flexible battery can stretch up to 300 percent of its original size and still function. It can work for eight to nine hours before it needs recharging, which can be done wirelessly. The potential applications are diverse and may include wearable computers, or even implantable electronics, that could monitor everything from brain waves to heart activity – succeeding where flat, rigid batteries would fail. Professor Yonggang Huang, who led the portion of the research focused on theory, design and modeling: "We start with a lot of battery components side by side in a very small space, and connect them with tightly packed, long wavy lines. These wires provide the flexibility. When we stretch the battery, the wavy interconnecting lines unfurl, much like yarn unspooling. And we can stretch the device a great deal and still have a working battery." Details were published this week in the online journal Nature Communications.
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