University of Leeds scientists have developed a new type of polymer gel that has the potential to create cheaper lithium batteries without impacting, and perhaps even improving, performance. The technology has been licensed to Polystor Energy Corporation, which is currently in trials to commercialize the batteries for portable consumer electronics. The polymer, which is more flexible than traditional lithium-ion batteries, could have some important benefits to shaping the batteries for more efficient use.
They’re some fairly bold claims, but a team of researchers at the University of Leeds say they’ve managed to develop a new type of polymer gel that could lead to batteries that are safer, cheaper to manufacture and more flexible than traditional lithium-ion batteries. That last detail could have some particularly interesting consequences, as the researchers say it allows for batteries that can “shaped and bent to fit the geometries of virtually any device.” What’s more, all of that apparently comes with no compromise in performance, and the team has already licensed the technology to Polystor Energy Corporation, which is now conducting trials to commercialize the battery cells. The only catch is that there’s not so much as a hint as to when such batteries might actually be available.
