Smart Thin Sheet Batteries Made With Ionic Polymer Metal Composites (IPMC’s)

Presented is some experimental results and theoretical modeling pertaining to thin (30 microns) paper-like sheets of ionic polymer metal composites (IPMC’s) as paper batteries. These materials can generate electrical power by means of mechanical flexing, normal pressure and motion in general and they are smart because they are self-powered but rechargeable by moisture. Thin sheets or paper-like labels of IPMC’s can be bonded, glued or attached to any flexible or rigid substrate or can be laminated and can generate power by the motion of that substrate or any normal or oblique pressure exerted on that substrate through the IPMC sheet, label or laminate. A good example of these materials is perfluorinated sulfonic or carboxylic ionic polymers, which are suitably made into a functionally graded composite with a conductive phase such as graphite, conductive polymers or metals. These materials can also act as distributed nanosensors and distributed nanoactuators if moderate electrical field strength of about 10 volts per millimeter (10V/mm) is imposed on them through printed or interdigitated electrodes.