Researchers from the University of South Carolina have developed a T-shirt that doubles up as an ultra powerful battery but remains flexible and doesn’t do annoying things like electrocute the wearer.
Professor Xiaodong Li is the man behind the breakthrough at the USC’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Li and his team bought a T-shirt from a local discount store and then soaked it in a fluoride solution. The T-shirt was then baked at a high temperature without any oxygen in order to avoid combustion. What came out of the oven was a T-shirt that was made out of activated carbon fibres instead of cellulose and could store energy while remaining flexible.
Li and his team dubbed the flexible material “activated carbon textile” and small swatches of it can be used in very much the same was as a capacitor. In fact, Li went one better and said that the material acts more like a double-layered capacitor (or supercapacitor) thanks to its high energy density.
Not convinced with their achievement, Li and his team took the electro-shirt to the next level by coating the activated carbon textile with ‘nanoflowers’ of manganese oxide.
At just a nanometer thick, the manganese oxide layer improved the fabric’s energy storage capability so that it was able to maintain 95% performance.
It’s easy to see where this is heading:
“We wear fabric every day,” said Li. “One day our cotton T-shirts could have more functions; for example, a flexible energy storage device that could charge your cellphone or your iPad.” He then added, “We will soon see roll-up cell phones and laptop computers on the market, but a flexible energy storage device is needed to make this possible.”
Although activated carbon fibers themselves aren’t new, they have previously been created using expensive and environmentally unfriendly oils and chemicals.
“Those processes are complicated and produce harmful side products,” said Li. “Our method is a very inexpensive, green process.”
