The wearable devices market is rapidly gaining traction. Panasonic is among other large companies leading the innovations. On Thursday, the technology giant announced it has developed a flexible Lithium-ion battery that can contribute to longer life of devices.
The flexible Lithium-ion battery has a thickness of 0.55mm (credit: Panasonic)
The battery, which will be suitable in card-type and wearable devices, has a thickness of just 0.55mm and can maintain its characteristics even with repeated bending and twisting.
Panasonic said the newly developed laminated outer layer and internal structure can help save more than 99% of its initial capacity after 1,000 bends with a radius of 25mm. The laminated layers prevents leakage and abnormal heating during usage.
The rechargeable battery can contribute to longer operating time of card devices, wearables and other devices by reducing the battery deterioration due to bending and twisting as well as the charge and discharge cycle. As for its usage, it can go in card devices such as smart cards and card keys that work on batteries, as well as body worn devices and smart clothing.
Current lithium-ion batteries such as prismatic or pouch battery are neither bendable nor twistable. Panasonic notes that repeated bending of a rechargeable battery can cause a big impact on the charge and life of a battery.
Shipments are scheduled to start by the end of October 2016. Product development will continue towards mass production, with an eye to an even slimmer form factor ideal for various IoT devices such as card devices and wearable devices.
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