Tech Shout!

NEC Corp. has designed an ultra-thin, flexible, rechargeable battery capable of charging in less than 30 seconds, which can be fixed in smartcards and intelligent paper. This new organic radical battery (ORB) makes use of a type of plastic called organic radical polymer as its cathode.

The organic radical polymer assumes an electrolyte-permeated gel state, which results in the rechargeable battery being flexible and pliant. Apart from that the organic radical polymer electrode reaction is extremely speedy and the supporting salts migrate through gel state polymer very smoothly. This results in little resistance to the charging reaction and a charging time of less than 30 seconds.

NEC said that its new battery is not only thin, flexible and rechargeable, but it also environmentally friendly. Unlike conventional rechargeable batteries, it does not contain any harmful heavy metals such as mercury, lead or cadmium.

Key features of the newly developed battery include:

- An exceedingly thin structure (300 microns), which will enable it to be embedded into objects such as smartcards and intelligent paper in the future.
- A pliant and bendable structure, as flexible plastic is used as the cathode material.
- An ultra-fast charging speed of less than 30 seconds.
- A high energy density of approximately 1 mWh (mili Watt hour) per cm squared.
- Environmentally friendly, it does not contain any harmful metals.

In order to power all kinds of tiny terminals that are present everywhere, NEC expects its new rechargeable battery to be used extensively in the future. The company said the interconnection of networks with battery-powered next generation ubiquitous devices would enable all kinds of objects to become terminals.