Shape-Reconfigurable Aluminum-Air Batteries

The battery shape is a critical limiting factor affecting foreseeable energy storage applications. In particular, deformable metal-air battery systems can offer low cost, low flammability, and high capacity, but the fabrication of such metal-air batteries remains challenging. Here, it is shown that a shape-reconfigurable-material approach, in which the deformable components composed of micro- and nanoscale composites are assembled, is suitable for constructing polymorphic metal-air batteries. By employing an aluminum foil and an adhesive carbon composite placed on a cellulose scaffold as a substrate, an aluminum-air battery that can be deformed to an unprecedented high level, e.g., via expanding, folding, stacking, and crumpling, can be realized. This significant deformability results in a specific capacity of 128 mA h g(-1) (496 mA h g(-1) per cell; based on the mass of consumed aluminum) and a high output voltage (10.3 V) with 16 unit battery cells connected in series. The resulting battery can endure significant geometrical distortions such as 3D expanding and twisting, while the electrochemical performance is preserved. This work represents an advancement in deformable aluminum-air batteries using the shape-reconfigurable-material concept, thus establishing a paradigm for shape-reconfigurable batteries with exceptional mechanical functionalities.