Bartkowski Piotr, Pawliszak Łukasz, Lusawa Agata, Sypniewska Sabina, Ciemiorek Marta, Park Yong-Lae
Faculty of Automotive and Construction Machinery Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland.
Faculty of Materials Science Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland.
Soft Robot. 2025 Jun;12(3):315-326. doi: 10.1089/soro.2024.0098. Epub 2024 Dec 24.
Based on the analysis of the structures of robots and electronics developed so far, it should be noted that a majority of them need a reservoir for electrical energy storage. Unfortunately, most off-the-shelf devices commercially available nowadays are based on rigid parts that heavily limit the possibilities of incorporating such products into soft robots and wearable electronics. To address these issues, a new type of flexible structure for electrical energy storage, which consists of small battery cells connected by liquid metal paths, was proposed. It can achieve a low value of Young's modulus (about 0.13 MPa) while maintaining electrochemical stability for large stretches (max. capacity reduction-2%). We proposed an individual layer structure as well as a sandwich structure with a granular core, which by way of granular jamming phenomena can change the stiffness (almost 300%). This article describes the concept and working principle of the proposed flexible electrical energy storage structure, followed by the mechanical and electrical characterization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and galvanostatic battery cell cycling. Scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used to characterize the electrodes. The article also includes numerical simulations and potential applications of the studied structure.
基于对目前已开发的机器人和电子产品结构的分析，应当指出的是，其中大多数都需要一个用于电能存储的容器。不幸的是，如今市面上大多数现成的设备都是基于刚性部件的，这严重限制了将此类产品集成到软机器人和可穿戴电子产品中的可能性。为了解决这些问题，人们提出了一种新型的用于电能存储的柔性结构，它由通过液态金属路径连接的小电池单元组成。它可以实现较低的杨氏模量值（约0.13兆帕），同时在大拉伸量（最大容量降低2%）的情况下保持电化学稳定性。我们提出了一种单层结构以及一种带有颗粒状核心的三明治结构，这种结构通过颗粒堵塞现象可以改变刚度（几乎提高300%）。本文描述了所提出的柔性电能存储结构的概念和工作原理，随后进行了力学和电学表征、电化学阻抗谱分析以及恒流电池单元循环测试。使用扫描电子显微镜和能量色散X射线光谱来表征电极。本文还包括所研究结构的数值模拟和潜在应用。
