New structural battery from MIT takes the form of a fiber long 140 meters. It can resist fires, it can be washed in the washing machine and it can have several devices connected to a single fiber. Maybe, it could give rise to truly wearable computers.
Image by Daniel Dino-Slofer from Pixabay
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One of the big hits in current engineering are structural batteries that can be incorporated into various different materials while providing a steady flow of electricity. One of the promising types of structural batteries is fiber batteries that take the form of long fiber. Such batteries can be incorporated into clothes, wearables, or materials made from certain types of fiber.
Engineers from MIT developed a new type of fiber battery with many incredible properties. It is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that takes the form of a long and thin fiber. The width of the battery is just a few hundred microns but its length is an incredible 140 meters. And it could easily be made even longer.
We have seen similar fiber batteries in the past. But the MIT fiber batteries are made with a standard system to create industrial fiber making their production much simpler. From previous fiber batteries, it differs mostly by having its key material such as lithium placed into the fiber’s structure while being protected by a special layer. The batteries also include a new type of gel-based electrodes and electrolyte making the battery fire-resistant.
All of this makes the fiber battery much thinner and more flexible compared to the previous types. Just its current length of 140 meters makes it the longest fiber battery with a capacity of 123 mAh. Its potential has been showcased by it being wrapped around a children’s toy which it also ran.
The research lead also says there seems to be no obvious limitation when it comes to the potential fiber length. Perhaps they could have kilometers in length. Their battery can also be washed inside of a washing machine and can be powering up multiple devices at once. This may be bringing us closer to complete wearable computers that will be part of our computers.
For the time being, the team from MIT will continue their research, searching for new materials that could further improve the batteries’ properties. All of this while also filing a patent and hoping that in a few short years the batteries could see the markets.
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