INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Li-ion batteries that power everything from smartphones to electric cars are usually packed in rigid, sealed enclosures that prevent
stresses from damaging their components and keep air from coming into contact with their flammable and toxic electrolytes
flexible, non-toxic, jelly-like battery that could survive bending, twisting, and even cutting with a razor.While flexible batteries using
hydrogel electrolytes have been achieved before, they came with significant drawbacks
engineering professor at UC Berkeley and senior author of the study
Unfortunately, flexible packaging made of polymers or other stretchable materials can be easily penetrated by air or water, which will react
with standard electrolytes, generating lots of heat, potentially resulting in fires and explosions
This is why, in 2017, scientists started to experiment with quasi-solid-state hydrogel electrolytes.These hydrogels were made of a polymer
net that gave them their shape, crosslinkers like borax or hydrogen bonds that held this net together, a liquid phase made of water, and
salt or other electrolyte additives providing ions that moved through the watery gel as the battery charged or discharged.But hydrogels like
that had their own fair share of issues
That problem was solved by using highly concentrated salt water loaded with highly fluorinated lithium salts, which made it less likely to
But this led the researchers straight into safety issues, as fluorinated lithium salts are highly toxic to humans.
