FLEXIBLE ELECTRONIC DEVICES, A POWER SOURCE FOR FLEXIBLE SMART DEVICE
Flexible electronic devices are areas where Korea scientists making great effort based on innovation, as I did promise earlier to hint you on bendable batteries, flexible and wearable electronic devices developed elsewhere in Asia.
Speaking of the world’s first bendable and impressible battery developed by South Korean scientists, this was developed before the batteries developed recently by the Chinese Scientists. The South Korean scientists, while developing a bendable and impressible battery known as the world first, focused on a wearable electronic device that does not overheat like the conventional batteries, using lithium-ion. This differentiates it from the Chinese batteries, which focused more on medical implants, as well as a flexible and wearable electronic device, using lithium-sulfur, saline solution and cell culture medium as body inspired liquids.
The batteries developed with lithium-ion through the use of nanomaterials show a high level of stability than conventional batteries that use liquefied electrolytes but were not developed for medical implants. This is because conventional lithium batteries that use liquefied electrolytes have the challenge of safety since the film that separates electrolytes could possibly melt under heat, in which the positive and negative charges may come in contact which may lead to its hazardous effect. This is one of its demerits and why it cannot be used or deployed in the area of medical implants. Based on this drawback, the bendable batteries developed by Chinese scientists recently can be seen as more viable in diverse areas, since it can be used for medical implants, and as well be deployed in the area of flexible electronic devices such as wearable and flexible smartphones.
Making reference to the newly developed bendable batteries, the Chinese scientists used body inspired liquids such as normal saline and cell culture medium, specifically for medical implants and wearable devices. The lithium-sulfur used was deployed to pave way for producing a generation of flexible smart devices. The use of the saline solution and cellular fluids as electrolytes made it safe in practice and not just for discovery purpose. These researchers (Chinese scientists) hinted that the same carbon nanotubes that made up the skeleton of the 1D battery also accelerated the conversion of dissolved oxygen into hydroxide ions, a process that harms battery effectiveness but could be used to treat cancer and bacterial infections. Implanting fiber-shaped electrodes into the human body to consume essential oxygen, in cancer-related cases.
The impressible and flexible battery made by the Korean scientists uses flexible but solid materials, and not liquids, and is proven to show a much higher level of stability than conventional rechargeable batteries.
Imagine your smartphone wrapped in your wallet?
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