Jelly batteries are at the forefront of a technological revolution, promising to transform soft robotics, wearables and neuroscience with their unique properties and potential applications.
These innovative energy sources, inspired by the natural world, offer a new approach to creating flexible, durable and biocompatible electronics that can significantly impact various industries.
Turning to nature for technological inspiration
Electric eels have always fascinated biologists through their unique ability to stun their prey using specialized cells known as electrocytes.
These fascinating creatures have now fueled a remarkable scientific breakthrough, inspiring researchers to harness the principles of their natural electrical systems.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have found a way to mimic the layered structure of electrolytes and develop similar conductive, adhesive and stretchable materials, essentially creating “jelly batteries”.
These innovative materials not only mimic the natural capabilities of the eel, but also hold the potential to revolutionize a wide range of applications in electronics and bioengineering.
An advance in material science
In a breakthrough that combines stretchability and conductivity in a single material for the first time, these jelly batteries can be stretched to over ten times their original length without affecting conductivity.
The batteries are made from hydrogels, which are 3D networks of polymers containing over 60% water, held together by reversible on/off interactions that control their mechanical properties.
The main challenge was to create a material that was highly stretchable with conductive properties.
“It is difficult to design a material that is both highly stretchable and highly conductive, as these two properties are normally at odds with each other,” explained first author Stephen O’Neill, an expert in the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry at Cambridge. “Typically, conductivity decreases when a material is stretched.”
The solution came by charging these polymers, thus making them conductive. Additionally, the salt component in each gel can be altered to make them sticky and layered, creating the potential for energy.
Reshaping the future of electronics
This revolution in materials science is a significant departure from the traditional solid metal materials used in conventional electronics, which rely on electrons as charge carriers. By adopting a more flexible and adaptable approach, jelly batteries offer a new solution that more closely matches the needs of modern and dynamic technologies.
Instead, these jelly batteries take a page from nature’s book, using ions to carry charge, mimicking the natural electrical systems of electric eels. This ion-based conduction not only increases flexibility, but also opens up new possibilities for creating soft, stretchable, and stretchable electronic devices.
The key to this innovation is the use of barrel-shaped molecules called cucurbituril, which act as molecular handcuffs, forming reversible bonds between the different layers of the material. This unique adhesion mechanism allows jelly batteries to stretch significantly without separating or losing their conductive layers, maintaining their functionality and integrity even under stress.
Jelly batteries and biomedical implants
With their softness and elasticity, these hydrogel batteries hold tremendous promise for biomedical implants as they can be customized to match the mechanical properties of human tissue.
Without rigid components such as metal, hydrogel implants are less likely to be rejected by the body or cause scar tissue.
Moreover, these hydrogels are surprisingly strong, maintaining their shape even when pressed, and able to self-heal when damaged.
What does the future hold for jelly batteries?
Expansion in this area of research is already planned, with tests on living organisms to assess their suitability for various medical applications.
This work is being carried out by distinguished members from the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry and the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge.
The research was funded by the European Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
The intersection of nature and technology has once again proven its potential to drive the future of technology and medical science, with jelly batteries promising to lead the charge into a new era of biocompatible and flexible electronics.
The study is published in the journal Advances in science.
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