Liquid Metal-Based Stable and Stretchable Zn-Ion Battery for Electronic Textiles

Electronic textiles harmoniously interact with the human body and the surrounding environment, offering tremendous interest in smart wearable electronics. However, their wide application faces challenges due to the lack of stable and stretchable power electrodes/devices with multifunctional design. Herein, an intrinsically stretchable liquid metal-based fibrous anode for a stable Zn-ion battery (ZIB) is reported. Benefiting from the liquid feature and superior deformability of the liquid metal, optimized Zn ion concentration distribution and Zn (002) deposition behavior are observed, which result in dendrite-free performance even under stretching. With a strain of 50%, the ZIB maintains a high capacity of 139.8 mAh cm-3 (corresponding to 83.0% of the initial value) after 300 cycles, outperforming bare Zn fiber-based ZIB. The fibrous ZIB seamlessly integrates with the sensor, Joule heater, and wirelessly charging device, which provides a stable power supply for human signal monitoring and personal thermal management, holding promise for the application of wearable multifunctional electronic textiles. A stable and stretchable fibrous Zn-ion battery is developed by utilizing a dendrite-free liquid metal@Zn anode, which can be well-integrated with a liquid metal-based fibrous sensor, Joule heater, and wireless charging device for smart multifunctional electronic textiles.image

Automated summary

This study reports on the development of a stable and stretchable fibrous Zn-ion battery utilizing liquid metal fibers as the anode. The battery showed superior performance even under stretching and could seamlessly integrate with sensors, heaters, and wireless charging devices, making it promising for the application of wearable multifunctional electronic textiles.