Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/06/scientists_weave_batteries_into_clothing/
Scientists weave battery into clothing
Uses jumper leads?
Posted in Hardware, 6th February 2012 12:41 GMT
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Scientists charged into the fashion industry this week, unveiling a flexible battery that can be woven into fabric and used to boost the juice of everyday gadgets.
The lithium-ion cells were produced by a group of boffins from the Polytechnic School of Montreal. The team claims their bendy power cells are the first wearable battery that uses no liquid electrolytes [1], New Scientist reports.
The team sandwiched a solid polyethylene oxide electrolyte between a lithium iron phosphate cathode and lithium titanate anode. These are thermoplastic materials which, when gently heated, can be stretched into a thread.
The stretched material was then woven into fabric with conductive threads which tied the parts together to collectively power a series of LEDs. An entire garment woven from the battery material could produce "hundreds of volts".
"We have enough power to emit a powerful distress signal or even save a life by defibrillating a patient," said Maksim Skorobogatiy, the project's frontman.
The next step is to waterproof the technology before attempts to implement it in future clothing and accessories can go ahead. Backpacks and medical-monitoring garments are said to be the first items the team is planning to add the tech to.
For further reading, have a ganders at the team's technically written paper entitled "Flexible, Solid Electrolyte-Based Lithium Battery Composed of LiFePO4 Cathode and Li4Ti5O12 Anode for Applications in Smart Textiles [2]". ®