Using electrodes in a fluid form, researchers at Linköping University have developed a battery that can take any shape. This soft and conformable battery can be integrated into future technology in a completely new way. Their study has been published in the journal Science Advances.
利用流体形式的电极，林雪平大学的研究人员开发出一种可塑造成任意形状的电池。这种柔软且适应性强的电池能以全新方式融入未来科技。相关研究已发表于期刊《Science Advances》。

“The texture is a bit like toothpaste. The material can, for instance, be used in a 3D printer to shape the battery as you please. This opens up for a new type of technology,” says Aiman Rahmanudin, assistant professor at Linköping University.
这种材料的质地有点像牙膏。例如，这种材料可用于3D打印机，随意塑造电池的形状。这为一种新型技术开辟了道路，”林雪平大学助理教授Aiman Rahmanudin说道。

It is estimated that more than a trillion gadgets will be connected to the Internet in ten years’ time. In addition to traditional technology such as mobile phones, smartwatches and computers this could involve wearable medical devices such as insulin pumps, pacemakers, hearing aids and various health monitoring sensors, and in the long term also soft robotics, e-textiles and connected nerve implants.
据估计，十年后将有超过一万亿台设备接入互联网。除手机、智能手表和电脑等传统技术外，还可能包括胰岛素泵、心脏起搏器、助听器及各类健康监测传感器等可穿戴医疗设备，长期来看还将涉及软体机器人、电子织物与联网神经植入装置。

If all these gadgets are to work in a way that does not hinder the user, new types of batteries need to be developed.
要使所有这些设备在不影响用户的情况下正常工作，就需要开发新型电池。

“Batteries are the largest component of all electronics. Today they are solid and quite bulky. But with a soft and conformable battery, there are no design limitations. It can be integrated into electronics in a completely different way and adapted to the user,” says Aiman Rahmanudin. 
电池是所有电子产品中最大的组件。如今它们都是固态且相当笨重。但有了柔软且适应性强的电池，设计将不再受限。Aiman Rahmanudin表示："它能以完全不同的方式集成到电子产品中，并适应用户需求。"

Together with his colleagues at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics, LOE, he has developed a battery that is soft and malleable. The key has been a new approach – converting the electrodes from a solid to a liquid form. 
他与有机电子实验室（LOE）的同事们共同开发了一种柔软且可塑的电池。关键在于采用了一种新方法——将电极从固态转化为液态。

Previous attempts to manufacture soft and stretchable batteries have been based on different types of mechanical functions, such as rubbery composite materials that can be stretched out or connections that slide on each other. But this does not deal with the core of the problem – a large battery has higher capacity, but having more active materials means thicker electrodes and thus higher rigidity.
此前制造柔软可拉伸电池的尝试基于不同类型的机械功能，例如可拉伸的橡胶复合材料或相互滑动的连接结构。但这并未触及问题的核心——大容量电池拥有更高储能，但更多活性材料意味着更厚的电极，从而导致更高的刚性。

“Here, we’ve solved that problem, and we’re the first to show that capacity is independent of rigidity,” says Aiman Rahmanudin.
"在这里，我们解决了这个问题，并且我们是首个证明容量与刚性无关的团队，"Aiman Rahmanudin说道。

Fluid electrodes have been tested in the past but without any great success. At that time, liquid metals such as gallium were used. But then the material can only function as an anode and has the risk of being solidified during charging and discharging – losing its fluid nature. In addition, many of the stretchable batteries previously made have used rare materials that have a major environmental impact when mined and processed.
过去曾测试过流体电极，但并未取得太大成功。当时使用的是镓等液态金属。但该材料只能作为阳极使用，且在充放电过程中存在固化风险——失去其流体特性。此外，此前制造的许多可拉伸电池使用了稀有材料，这些材料在开采和加工过程中会对环境造成重大影响。

The researchers at LiU Campus Norrköping have instead based their soft battery on conductive plastics (conjugated polymers) and lignin, a byproduct from paper production. The battery can be recharged and discharged over 500 times and still maintain its performance. It can also be stretched to double the length and still work just as well. 
林雪平大学北雪平校区的研究人员转而采用导电塑料（共轭聚合物）和木质素（造纸副产品）作为柔性电池的基础材料。该电池可充放电500次以上且性能保持不变，拉伸至两倍长度时仍能保持同等效能。

“Since the materials in the battery are conjugated polymers and lignin, the raw materials are abundant. By repurposing a byproduct like lignin into a high value commodity such as a battery material we contribute to a more circular model. So, it’s a sustainable alternative,” says Mohsen Mohammadi, postdoctoral fellow at LOE and one of the lead authors behind the article published in Science Advances.
由于电池材料是共轭聚合物和木质素，原材料非常丰富。通过将木质素这样的副产品重新利用为电池材料等高价值商品，我们为更循环的模式做出了贡献。因此，这是一种可持续的替代方案，”LOE博士后研究员、发表在《Science Advances》上的文章的主要作者之一Mohsen Mohammadi说道。

The next step is to try to increase the electrical voltage in the battery. According to Aiman Rahmanudin, there are currently some limitations that they need to overcome. 
下一步是尝试提高电池的电压。据Aiman Rahmanudin称，目前他们需要克服一些限制。

“The battery isn’t perfect. We have shown that the concept works but the performance needs to be improved. The voltage is currently 0.9 volts. So now we’ll look at using other chemical compounds to increase the voltage. One option that we are exploring is the use of zinc or manganese, two metals that are common in the Earth’s crust,“ says Aiman Rahmanudin.
电池并非完美无缺。我们已经证明这个概念可行，但性能有待提升。目前电压仅为0.9伏。接下来我们将尝试使用其他化合物来提高电压。我们正在探索的一个方案是采用锌或锰这两种地壳中常见的金属。”Aiman Rahmanudin表示。