Techniques enabling inorganic materials into wearable fiber/yarn and flexible lithium-ion batteries

Next-generation electronics will be driven by miniaturized components tuned for wearable options, which will have the capability to provide humans and their environment with state-of-the-art connectivity and monitoring in the so-called internet of things (IoT) environment. These wearable and textile-based electronic devices (including sensors, controllers, displays, and many others) will need to be powered like other traditional electronics. And, one of the most innovative ways to do so is by designing textile and yarn-based batteries. To this date, lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) power the highest percentage of consumer electronics as a proven source of energy, albeit with some shortcomings like a limited lifetime, safety, and cost concerns. The high-performance LiBs can be realized using diverse inorganic nano materials as active materials in their electrodes. In this work, we have dedicated our efforts to describing, reviewing, and proposing the possible methods that can be employed to translate the complex existing inorganic materials for LiB electrodes into textile electrodes and their further assembly into compatible all-textile wearable LiBs. Extra efforts have been taken to describe most of the involved textile-related technologies in terms of their merits and demerits across the report. Finally, a broader perspective and conclusion have been drawn for this particular space of research.

Automated summary

Future electronics will be driven by miniaturized components for wearability and advanced connectivity in the internet of things environment. Textile electrodes and yarn-based batteries are innovative power solutions, while lithium-ion batteries remain the primary energy source with certain drawbacks.