Flexible thin-film batteries are a type of battery technology that have great potential in the field of consumer electronics and wearables. Due to their adaptable shape and robustness, they can be perfectly incorporated into clothing and serve as an energy source for any GPS trackers or ensure the power supply of smart gadgets.
Thin-film batteries can be perfectly adapted to individual application scenarios through possible stacking of individual cells and can be integrated on a wide variety of surfaces due to their intrinsic mechanical flexibility. Here, there are no limits to the integrability of the thin-film battery.
There are four main thin-film battery technologies targeting micro-electronic applications and competing for their markets: ① printed batteries, ② ceramic batteries, ③ lithium polymer batteries, and ④ nickel metal hydride (NiMH) button batteries. 3.1. Printed batteries
The electrochemical performance of thin-film printed batteries depends on the chemistry. The zinc–manganese chemistry is essentially applied in single-use applications, although some companies, including Imprint Energy and Printed Energy, are developing rechargeable zinc–manganese printed batteries.
The mechanism of the thin-film batteries is that ions migrate from the cathode to the anode charging and storing absorbed energy and migrating back to the cathode from the anode during discharge and thereby releasing energy .
In the literature, printed batteries are always associated with thin-film applications that have energy requirements below 1 A·h. These include micro-devices with a footprint of less than 1 cm 2 and typical power demand in the microwatt to milliwatt range (Table 1) , , , , , , , .
Thin-film batteries qualify themselves by their high safety aspect. The exclusive use of solid-state materials makes them superior to currently used liquid electrolyte cells, especially in terms of user proximity. In addition, the thin-film …