Flexible Lithium-Ion Batteries

Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed the first flexible lithium-ion battery. The darling of the portable electronics age, lithium-ion batteries have struggled to evolve alongside next generation flexible-display technology, remaining rigid and impractical despite scientists’ best efforts. Now, the KAIST research team has taken one of the first steps toward “fully flexible electronic systems” combining flexible displays, batteries, and memory. The innovative flexible-lithium-ion batteries are created in a two step process: first, a traditional in-flexible battery is produced on a rigid mica substrate at temperatures too high for flexible polymers. Second, the inflexible battery is transferred onto a flexible polymer surface by delimiting the sacrificial mica substrate the battery was created on. The KAIST team is now exploring methods to facilitate higher charge densities and mass production of flexible lithium-ion batteries.