InterBattery 2015: Samsung unveils next gen of batteries with wearable batteries: Stripe and Band.

Samsung SDI unveiled Stripe battery that bends like fiber and Band battery for smartwatches.

Samsung is paving its way to the foldable smartphone/tablet launch maybe for 2016 with the stripe battery.

Press Release:

Samsung SDI’s Next-Gen Wearable Battery Unpack…Showing Next-Generation Battery at InterBattery 2015.

To showcase Stripe battery that bends like fiber and Band battery for smartwatches

Samsung SDI achieved higher flexibility and high performance energy density with independent technology       

Samsung SDI unveiled Stripe and Band batteries at InterBattery 2015. The batteries are an embodiment of the age of wearable batteries that is applicable to any curves of a human body.

-Samsung SDI (CEO Nam Seong Cho) (KRX:006400) unveiled Samsung’s Stripe and Band batteries at InterBattery 2015, which will be held at COEX, Seoul from October 20 for 3 days. The batteries are an embodiment of the age of wearable batteries that is applicable to any curves of a human body.

       The Stripe battery, which Samsung SDI revealed for the first time, is a next-generation product that can bend and conform freely as a fiber and is equipped with innovative energy density. Since it is adaptable to various forms - such as a necklace, hairband, t-shirt accessories, and more - it will in result fuel the growth of battery application market including wearables.

The Stripe battery contains multiple element technologies that were independently developed by Samsung SDI. Cutting-edge materials were used internally and externally to finalize an ultra-slim 0.3mm design. It also created higher energy density compared to other present batteries by minimizing the width of battery sealing. The Stripe battery took grasp of both design flexibility and high performance.

Samsung SDI also showcased its Band battery at the trade show. The Band battery is a next-generation product that was made to target smartwatches. When the battery is applied on the bands of any smartwatch, it will greatly enhance the battery capacity to over 50%.

The Band battery of Samsung SDI proved to have sufficient marketability by operating normally subsequent to being bended over 50 thousand times within the curvature of human wrist circumference. At InterBattery 2015, Samsung SDI also demonstrated wearable applications that were loaded with their Stripe and Band products. It is a step into the age of wearable batteries where a battery takes the reign in front of application.

Contacts

Samsung SDI

David Kim, +82-2-2255-2655

sangeun44.kim@samsung.com

or

Joanne Cho, +82-2-2255-2613

jungyoon.cho@samsung.com     

Samsung new lithium-ion batteries will double power capacity.

Samsung researchers have developed materials that double the power capacity of lithium-ion batteries. Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) said the technology uses silicon cathode material coded with high-crystalline graphene to produce batteries with twice as much capacity as ordinary lithium-ion batteries. The institute said the research result was published in the international science journal Nature Communication on Thursday. The research team said the new technology is expected to enhance the performance of mobile devices and electric vehicles. "The research has dramatically improved the capacity of lithium-ion batteries by applying a new synthesis method of high-crystalline graphene to a high-capacity silicon cathode," said Son In-hyuk, a professional researcher at SAIT. "We will continue to improve the secondary cell technology to meet the expanding demand from mobile device and electric vehicle markets." The lithium-ion battery was introduced in 1991 and its storage capacity has been gradually improved. But the material's properties have limited improvements to capacity, failing to follow skyrocketing demand from the mobile and electric car industries. Consequently, researchers worldwide have accelerated the development of materials for a high-capacity battery that can fundamentally overcome the limitations in graphite material. One of them is silicon, which is expected to realize more than 10 times the power capacity compared with graphite. But the research has faced serious technological problems over drastic degradation of battery life. SAIT said its researchers turned to graphene, a relatively new material that is physically strong and highly conductive, to solve this problem. This material has up to four times the capacity compared with graphite and can double the energy density of ordinary lithium-ion batteries, the institute said. Patents covering the new technology have been applied for in Korea, China, Europe and the United States.

NTU develops ultra-fast charging batteries that last 20 years

NTU Assoc Prof Chen Xiaodong with research fellow Tang Yuxin and PhD student Deng Jiyang

Scientists at Nanyang Technology University (NTU) have developed ultra-fast charging batteries that can be recharged up to 70 per cent in only two minutes.

The new generation batteries also have a long lifespan of over 20 years, more than 10 times compared to existing lithium-ion batteries.

This breakthrough has a wide-ranging impact on all industries, especially for electric vehicles, where consumers are put off by the long recharge times and its limited battery life.

With this new technology by NTU, drivers of electric vehicles could save tens of thousands on battery replacement costs and can recharge their cars in just a matter of minutes.

Commonly used in mobile phones, tablets, and in electric vehicles, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries usually last about 500 recharge cycles. This is equivalent to two to three years of typical use, with each cycle taking about two hours for the battery to be fully charged.

In the new NTU-developed battery, the traditional graphite used for the anode (negative pole) in lithium-ion batteries is replaced with a new gel material made from titanium dioxide.

Titanium dioxide is an abundant, cheap and safe material found in soil. It is commonly used as a food additive or in sunscreen lotions to absorb harmful ultraviolet rays.

Naturally found in spherical shape, the NTU team has found a way to transform the titanium dioxide into tiny nanotubes, which is a thousand times thinner than the diameter of a human hair. This speeds up the chemical reactions taking place in the new battery, allowing for superfast charging. 

Invented by Associate Professor Chen Xiaodong from NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering, the science behind the formation of the new titanium dioxide gel was published in the latest issue of Advanced Materials, a leading international scientific journal in materials science.

Prof Chen and his team will be applying for a Proof-of-Concept grant to build a large-scale battery prototype. With the help of NTUitive, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTU  set up to support NTU start-ups, the patented technology has already attracted interest from the industry.

The technology is currently being licensed by a company for eventual production. Prof Chen expects that the new generation of fast-charging batteries will hit the market in the next two years. It also has the potential to be a key solution in overcoming longstanding power issues related to electro-mobility.

“Electric cars will be able to increase their range dramatically, with just five minutes of charging, which is on par with the time needed to pump petrol for current cars,” added Prof Chen.

“Equally important, we can now drastically cut down the toxic waste generated by disposed batteries, since our batteries last ten times longer than the current generation of lithium-ion batteries.”

The 10,000-cycle life of the new battery also mean that drivers of electric vehicles would save on the cost of battery replacements, which could cost over US$5,000 each.

Easy to manufacture

According to Frost & Sullivan, a leading growth-consulting firm, the global market of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries is projected to be worth US$23.4 billion in 2016.

Lithium-ion batteries usually use additives to bind the electrodes to the anode, which affects the speed in which electrons and ions can transfer in and out of the batteries.

However, Prof Chen’s new cross-linked titanium dioxide nanotube-based electrodes eliminates the need for these additives and can pack more energy into the same amount of space.

Manufacturing this new nanotube gel is very easy. Titanium dioxide and sodium hydroxide are mixed together and stirred under a certain temperature so battery manufacturers will find it easy to integrate the new gel into their current production processes.

Recognised as the next big thing by co-inventor of today’s lithium-ion batteries

NTU professor Rachid Yazami, the co-inventor of the lithium-graphite anode 30 years ago that is used in today’s lithium-ion batteries, said Prof Chen’s invention is the next big leap in battery technology.

“While the cost of lithium-ion batteries has been significantly reduced and its performance improved since Sony commercialised it in 1991, the market is fast expanding towards new applications in electric mobility and energy storage,” said Prof Yazami, who is not involved in Prof Chen’s research project.

Last year, Prof Yazami was awarded the prestigious Draper Prize by The National Academy of Engineering for his ground-breaking work in developing the lithium-ion battery with three other scientists.

“However, there is still room for improvement and one such key area is the power density – how much power can be stored in a certain amount of space – which directly relates to the fast charge ability. Ideally, the charge time for batteries in electric vehicles should be less than 15 minutes, which Prof Chen’s nanostructured anode has proven to do so.” 

 

Prof Yazami is now developing new types of batteries for electric vehicle applications at the Energy Research Institute at NTU (ERI@N).

This battery research project took the team of four scientists three years to complete. It is funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF), Prime Minister's Office, Singapore, under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) Programme of Nanomaterials for Energy and Water Management.

Media contact:

Lester Kok

Senior Assistant Manager 

Corporate Communications Office 

Nanyang Technological University

Tel: 6790 6804

Email: lesterkok@ntu.edu.sg

About Nanyang Technological University

A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has 33,500 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the colleges of Engineering, Business, Science and Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, It has a new medical school, the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, set up jointly with Imperial College London, and also an Interdisciplinary Graduate School.

NTU is home to world-class autonomous institutes – the National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore, and Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering – and various leading research centres such as the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI), Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N) and the Institute on Asian Consumer Insight (ACI).

A fast-growing university with an international outlook, NTU is putting its global stamp on Five Peaks of Excellence: Sustainable Earth, Future Healthcare, New Media, New Silk Road, and Innovation Asia.

Besides the main Yunnan Garden campus, NTU also has a satellite campus in Singapore’s science and tech hub, one-north, and a third campus in Novena, Singapore’s medical district.

LG Chem, Samsung SDI and Tianjin Lishen to supply Apple`s iWatch lithium-ion batteries. Not curved.

LG was confirmed before to supply the 2 million initial order displays for the Apple`s iWatch,  (code named Kids Watch) (which are allegedly going to measure in at 1.52 inches) using its flexible display technology (P-OLED, as in Plastic OLED, the same tech introduced by LG with its G Flex smartphone). In addition, these rumors indicate that LG will start mass producing the iWatch screens within the July-September 2014 timeslot.

Now Apple has confirmed that it will stick with lithium-ion batteries for its upcoming iWatch and these batteries are to be supplied mainly by Samsung SDI, LG Chem and Tianjin Lishen Battery.

This means the local manufacturers would be providing products for Samsung’s largest rival. 

“Apple will utilize LG Chem’s stepped battery since it offers better longevity than others and can be applied for different shapes,” a source said, declining to be identified. 

Stepped batteries consist of layers of batteries and are said to have around 16 percent more energy efficiency than a traditional battery, as the step-like design reduces unused space in the battery pack.

LG Chem had said in an investor relations meeting last month that it would expand its presence in the premium mobile market with its stepped and its curved batteries, which were unveiled last year along with a cable battery.

LG Chem and Samsung SDI both declined to comment on the supply deal. 

Efficiency was the main reason why lithium-ion batteries were chosen over solar energy. 

“Since the energy efficiency of solar-charging technology is one-tenth of the lithium-ion battery, it doesn’t make sense to run a gadget with solar power,” he said, adding that the solar panel could be used as supplementary power at best. 

The iWatch is expected to be released in the latter half of this year. 

The smart watch was also unlikely to sport a curved screen, according to industry watchers who believe there would be no point in making a curved screen that would be at most 2 inches wide. 

A curved display may also put strain on the wearer’s wrist if worn for a long time, they said. 

Meanwhile, most smart watches expected to be released this year including those of Apple, Samsung and LG will be equipped with an organic light-emitting diode display.

Samsung Electronics is planning to release its Galaxy Gear 2 smart watch as early as this month along with its flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone at Mobile World Congress 2014, scheduled to be held in Barcelona from Feb. 24-27. 

LG Electronics’ much talked-about upcoming smart watch is also expected to adopt the stepped battery and the OLED display as well.

Its prototype is said to be already being tested, and LG Electronics is mulling the release date.

Buy the Amazon Kindles Fire HDX 7 and HDX 8.9 inches tablets:

Science: Your next gen smartphone could bring in self-healing battery electrode. Scientists just invented it.

Self-healing Battery Prototype

Stanford postdoctoral researcher Chao Wang holds a container of self-healing polymer that can be applied to silicon electrodes to keep them from cracking and falling apart during battery operation.

Left: An electron micrograph shows cracks left in a self-healing polymer coating due to swelling of its silicon electrode during charging. Right: Five hours later, the smaller cracks have healed.

Science: Your next gen smartphone could bring in self-healing battery electrode. Scientists just invented it. 

Scientists invent self-healing battery electrode.

Researchers have made the first battery electrode that heals itself, opening a new and potentially commercially viable path for making the next generation of lithium ion batteries for electric cars, cell phones and other devices. The secret is a stretchy polymer that coats the electrode, binds it together and spontaneously heals tiny cracks that develop during battery operation, said the team from Stanford University and the Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

They reported the advance in the Nov. 19 issue of Nature Chemistry.

"Self-healing is very important for the survival and long lifetimes of animals and plants," said Chao Wang, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford and one of two principal authors of the paper. "We want to incorporate this feature into lithium ion batteries so they will have a long lifetime as well."

Chao developed the self-healing polymer in the lab of Stanford Professor Zhenan Bao, whose group has been working on flexible electronic skin for use in robots, sensors, prosthetic limbs and other applications. For the battery project he added tiny nanoparticles of carbon to the polymer so it would conduct electricity.

"We found that silicon electrodes lasted 10 times longer when coated with the self-healing polymer, which repaired any cracks within just a few hours," Bao said.

Their capacity for storing energy is in the practical range now, but we would certainly like to push that," said Yi Cui, an associate professor at SLAC and Stanford who led the research with Bao. The electrodes worked for about 100 charge-discharge cycles without significantly losing their energy storage capacity. "That's still quite a way from the goal of about 500 cycles for cell phones and 3,000 cycles for an electric vehicle," Cui said, "but the promise is there, and from all our data it looks like it's working."

Researchers worldwide are racing to find ways to store more energy in the negative electrodes of lithium ion batteries to achieve higher performance while reducing weight. One of the most promising electrode materials is silicon; it has a high capacity for soaking up lithium ions from the battery fluid during charging and then releasing them when the battery is put to work.

But this high capacity comes at a price: Silicon electrodes swell to three times normal size and shrink back down again each time the battery charges and discharges, and the brittle material soon cracks and falls apart, degrading battery performance. This is a problem for all electrodes in high-capacity batteries, said Hui Wu, a former Stanford postdoc who is now a faculty member at Tsinghua University in Beijing, the other principal author of the paper.

To make the self-healing coating, scientists deliberately weakened some of the chemical bonds within polymers – long, chain-like molecules with many identical units. The resulting material breaks easily, but the broken ends are chemically drawn to each other and quickly link up again, mimicking the process that allows biological molecules such as DNA to assemble, rearrange and break down.

Researchers in Cui's lab and elsewhere have tested a number of ways to keep silicon electrodes intact and improve their performance. Some are being explored for commercial uses, but many involve exotic materials and fabrication techniques that are challenging to scale up for production.

The self-healing electrode, which is made from silicon microparticles that are widely used in the semiconductor and solar cell industry, is the first solution that seems to offer a practical road forward, Cui said. The researchers said they think this approach could work for other electrode materials as well, and they will continue to refine the technique to improve the silicon electrode's performance and longevity.

Summary:

This invention could help bring about the next generation of lithium ion batteries for electric cars, mobile phones and a number of other battery-powered devices.