Stretchable and Biodegradable Batteries with High Energy and Power Density

Abstract

Realizing a sustainable, technologically advanced future will necessitate solving the electronic waste problem. Biodegradable forms of electronics offer a viable path through their environmental benignity. With both the sheer number of devices produced every day as well as their areas of application ever increasing, new concepts of degradable batteries able to sustain the high power demands of modern electronics must be developed. Simultaneously, integration of electronics in close interaction with its user or powering soft robotic devices necessitates high degrees of compliance, rendering stretchable batteries indispensable. Here, a concept for merging intrinsically stretchable materials with engineered stretchability by kirigami‐patterning on a component level is shown to yield high‐power biodegradable batteries with reversible elasticity up to 35% when stretched uniaxially and 20% for biaxial extension. Using a combination of molybdenum metal foils, a molybdenum trioxide paste, and magnesium metal foils as electrode materials, a peak power output of 196 µW cm–2 and an energy density of 1.72 mWh cm–2 is achieved. The biodegradable batteries are used to power an on‐skin biomedical sensor patch, enabling monitoring of sodium concentration in sweat. This concept provides a versatile route for high‐power biodegradable batteries, enabling untethered soft electronic devices in a sustainable future.

All-round supramolecular zwitterionic hydrogel electrolytes enabling environmentally adaptive dendrite-free aqueous zinc ion capacitors

“…Fusing biomedical electronics with a wearable portable power supply is becoming a popular trend nowadays. 89,90 Inspired by this, here we propose and demonstrate the concept of a sensor patch, which is a modularized, printed circuit board (PCB) involving a near-field communication (NFC) tag for data storage and transmission and a microfluidic sensor, together with a commercial electrode for monitoring physiological signals during daily life, powered by the resultant flexible ZICs (Fig. 9a).…”

Stretchable magnesium–air battery based on dual ions conducting hydrogel for intelligent biomedical applications

“…The device can be stretched to 45% under the yield strain of Mg. The stretchability can be further enhanced by decreasing the feature size of the serpentine electrode structure or manufacturing electrode into kirigami structure 49 . Additionally, the lower electrode covering area ratio can also help to achieve greater stretchability for the battery, as shown in Figure S8.…”

Aqueous Batteries for Human Body Electronic Devices

“…The assembled MoO 3 //Mg battery is able to fit the skin to power the sensor to monitor the Na + concentration in sweat during a running workout (Figure 2g,h). 25 As for self-healing properties, the primary consideration is a polymer matrix with a hydrogen bonding network, such as carboxylated-polyurethane, while ensuring flexibility, can self-heal by bonding at the fracture through hydrogen bonding and regain the conductivity of the electrode. 26 It is noteworthy that the electrical performance of self-healing electrodes may be reduced after multiple fracture-self-healing cycles as a result of the fragmentation of the conductive material at the fracture.…”