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New Flexible Battery Invented That You Can DIY At Home... And It Bends Anyway You Want It

Designed for use in electronic devices with flexible displays, this flexible battery made with carbon nanotubes could conceivably be manufactured in any size or shape, or even made at home.

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NJIT Researchers have invented and patented a battery so flexible that it can be rolled up and placed anyway you want it

Researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology have developed a flexible battery made with carbon nanotubes that could potentially power electronic devices with flexible displays.

energyharvestingjournal.com

Electronic manufacturers are now making flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, a pioneering technology that allow devices such as cell phones, tablet computers and TVs to literally fold up.

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And this new battery, given its flexibility and components, can be used to power this new generation of bendable electronics.

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Prof. Som Mitra (left) invented a flexible battery with assistance from Zhiqian Wang, a doctoral student in chemistry (Photo: Jed Medina, NJIT)

Image via gizmag.com

The invention’s many applications run the gamut from large-scale machinery to flexible smartphones. This could go a long way towards making curved-display phones like the LG G Flex and the Galaxy Round more relevant in years to come.

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The cell uses carbon nanotubes, and is not only flexible but entirely scalable

The battery is made from carbon nanotubes and micro-particles that serve as active components -- similar to those found in conventional batteries. It is designed, though, to contain the electro-active ingredients while remaining flexible.

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One of the prototype flexible batteries (Photo: Jed Medina, NJIT)

Image via gizmag.com

"This battery can be made as small as a pinhead or as large as a carpet in your living room," says Somenath Mitra, a professor of chemistry and environmental science whose research group invented the battery.

gizmag.com

"So its applications are endless. You can place a rolled-up battery in the trunk of your electric car and have it power the vehicle," added Mitra.

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What's more is that the researchers claim it could easily be made at home with the right "paste" and a laminating machine

According to the researchers, the battery has another revolutionary potential, in that it could be fabricated at home by consumers. All one would need to make the battery is a kit comprised of electrode paste and a laminating machine.

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Using a kit, they would coat two sheets of plastic with supplied electrode paste, insert a separating sheet between those two sheets, and then laminate them all together using an included laminating machine.

gizmag.com

NJIT Professor Som Mitra (left) invented a flexible battery with assistance from Zhiqian Wang, a doctoral student in chemistry.

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“We have been experimenting with carbon nanotubes and other leading technologies for many years at NJIT,” says Mitra, “and it’s exciting to apply leading-edge technologies to create a flexible battery that has myriad consumer applications.”

azonano.com

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