Flexible Electrochemical Power Sources

Flexible electrochemical power sources encompass a family of devices—batteries, fuel cells and supercapacitors—designed to sustain electrical performance under bending, stretching or folding. Central to these technologies are conformable electrodes, soft or solid‐state electrolytes and lightweight current collectors that together enable integration into wearables, implantable sensors, portable communications and Internet of Things devices. Recent advances have focused on gel and polymer electrolytes that combine high ionic conductivity with mechanical resilience, and on electrode architectures such as three‐dimensional porous frameworks or fibre‐shaped conductors. As demands grow for autonomous, miniaturised energy systems, flexible power sources promise to deliver high energy and power densities in form factors compatible with textiles, skin‐mounted electronics and rollable displays.

Research from Nature Portfolio

One recent study has demonstrated a bendable solid‐state lithium metal battery employing a three‐dimensional porous copper scaffold as the anode host and a crosslinked gel polymer electrolyte. This design achieved more than 90 % capacity retention after a thousand bending cycles at a radius of 5 mm, while delivering an energy density of around 200 Wh kg⁻¹. The robust interface between lithium and the gel electrolyte prevented dendrite formation and enabled stable cycling at room temperature.

Another investigation introduced a textile‐integrated zinc–air battery in which zinc foil anodes and air cathodes are interwoven with stretchable hydrogel electrolytes. The device maintained over 80 % of its initial discharge capacity after 500 charge–discharge cycles under 30 % applied strain. Bifunctional catalysts deposited on carbon nanofibres facilitated efficient oxygen reduction and evolution, paving the way for self-powered smart garments and flexible environmental sensors.

Flexible Electrochemical Power Sources publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in flexible electrochemical power sources across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Polymer electrolyte membrane: A thin, ion‐conducting polymer film separating anode and cathode in fuel cells, facilitating proton transport while blocking electrons.

Solid‐state electrolyte: A non-liquid ionic conductor, often polymer or ceramic, that replaces flammable liquid electrolytes to enhance safety and mechanical integrity.

Direct methanol fuel cell: A fuel cell type in which methanol is oxidised at the anode to generate electricity without prior reforming.

Single-atom catalyst: A catalyst system in which individual metal atoms are anchored on a support, maximising atom utilisation and selectivity.

Power density: The amount of electrical power (watts) delivered per unit mass (W kg⁻¹) or area (W cm⁻²) of the device.

References

1. Rational Design of Atomically Immobilized Fe‐N4 Sites via Acid‐Amine Chemistry: Leveraging Metal Ionic Assistance for Precise Morphology Control. SusMat (2024).
2. Portable and Autonomous PEDOT-Modified Flexible Paper-Based Methanol Fuel Cell Sensing Platform Applied to L1CAM Recombinant Protein Detection. ACS Applied Polymer Materials (2024).
3. A rollable ultra-light polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. NPG Asia Materials (2017).