Introduction to Solid Fusion Printing:

The recently announced wearable device, flexible battery, has always been a key bottleneck affecting the performance of consumer electronics products such as wearable devices, smartphones, and smart hardware.

A rechargeable zinc battery developed by the University of California, San Diego, has the characteristics of flexibility, agility, and printability, further reflecting some of the main trends in battery technology development.

Researchers synthesized elastic polymer materials made of isoprene polystyrene. Isoprene is one of the main components of rubber, while polystyrene is a resin like component. This substance, called SIS, can extend the battery to twice its usual size and in two directions without causing any damage.

This ink is made of a mixture of zinc oxide (zinc silver silver) SIS material. At the same time, when manufacturing batteries, they used standard screen printing technology, which can greatly reduce costs. The price of the new battery is only $0.5, while rechargeable batteries on the market are only $5.

Batteries can be directly printed on fibers or other materials and can be attached to the skin. They can print ribbons and have stable performance, which can be worn for a long time.

Zinc batteries have been used as commercial products for a long time, but they usually cannot be charged. Researchers have added a key component to the battery: bismuth oxide, which can increase the battery's lifespan and charge in the zinc electrode. Adding bismuth oxide to zinc batteries is an industrial standard practice for improving performance.

Although this prototype battery only accounts for 1/5 of the capacity of hearing aid rechargeable batteries, its thickness is only 1/10, which is cheaper, and the materials used are also on the market.

In addition, researchers have been committed to improving the performance of batteries, and the next steps include expanding the application of this technology, such as solar cells and fuel cells, and using batteries as power sources for various electronic devices.