A jelly battery that bends and stretches has been developed
A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge has developed a stretchy, jelly-like battery inspired by electric eels, which could be useful in wearable devices and the medical field.
Highly stretchable dynamic hydrogels for soft multilayer electronics | Science Advances
Soft, stretchy 'jelly batteries' inspired by | EurekAlert!
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1051344
Stretchable batteries are needed in fields such as medical implants, but there is a problem with conventional materials: 'ensuring stretchability reduces electrical conductivity.' Therefore, the research team developed a 'battery that is both stretchable and conductive,' based on the power generation system of electric eels.
The jelly battery developed by the research team is made up of hydrogels with more than 60% water, stacked in layers with different salt compositions. The composition of the hydrogel can be tuned to mimic the composition of human tissue.
Below is the jelly battery prototyped by the research team. It can be bent and twisted.
It can also be stretched as shown below, and the conductivity does not change even if it is stretched to 10 times its original length.
The jelly battery has the characteristics of 'mimicking the components of human tissue,' 'being stretchy,' and 'not containing hard parts such as metal,' so it is suitable for developing implant devices that are less likely to cause rejection. The research team plans to test the jelly battery in vivo in the future.
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