A hole-filled battery could make wearables more breathable than cotton
A battery pouch with rectangular holesLiangbing Hu/Teng Li
A stretchy and flexible battery pouch filled with strategically placed holes is more breathable than cotton. That could make it an ideal power source for wearable sports or fitness devices built directly into clothing.
“This is especially useful for athletes or individuals who wear electronics for extended periods – smart clothing for fitness tracking, medical monitoring devices and similar applications that demand both comfort and reliable performance,” says Lin Xu at Yale University.
To design the new battery, Xu and his colleagues created a pattern of long, rectangular holes in a pouch cell battery – a type of lithium battery that resembles a flat bundle with a limited degree of bendability. Simulations...