So far, battery life is the most important limiting factor in the design of smartwatches and other wearable gadgets. Of course, you won’t like to tie up a heavy and bulky battery on your wrist. As the technology is advancing, batteries are becoming thinner but more efficient. Unfortunately, none of these thin batteries has come up with up to the mark results in terms of battery autonomy. Hold on! we have a good news for you. Recently, a post doctoral researcher at Rice University has developed a very thin and small-sized battery. Very interestingly, the battery is lithium-free. The thickness of the battery is only hundredth part of an inch.
The performance of the battery is twice the super capacitor which is undoubtedly an achievement with such a thin size. According to the researcher, the battery can be used in mobiles as well. However, the current design is made for the smart watches. It is an ultimate solution for hand-held gadgets at customer’s end. The performant electrodes have been made by the etching process of Nickel Fluoride having a thickness of 900 nanometre. To increase the surface area, 5 nanometer regular spacing is created between the coatings of Nickel Fluoride.
In fact, the benefits of this device are twofold; firstly it can be used as a capacitor, secondly it can also be used as a battery. Charging is achieved quickly with a small current charger. The quick charging is like super capacitor while the discharging is slow which makes it a battery. A series of extensive experiments performed reveals that only 24 percent of the capacity is lost when charged and discharged 10,000 times. The battery offers energy density of 384 Wh/kg and power density of 112kW/kg.
The researchers see its usage in next generation of smartwatches, wearable fitness bands, mobiles and many more devices. To commercialize the product, researchers are in contact with the companies. The commercialization can make the battery more thin and enhance its efficiency.