PAPER BATTERY – A NEW PROMISING SOLUTION

Aman Kashyap
11610447 EC5
NIT KURKSHETRA
Electronics and Communication Department.
Abstract efficiency and also consumes more space so
to reduce these drawbacks, researches have
This paper provides a great information and
come with a new idea of paper battery.
deep insight into the newly revolutionizing
and satisfying innovation towards the 1.2. HISTORY:
storage of energy by using paper batteries.
Now we will see about the history of paper
The following paper will cover the paper
battery. In 2007, in the month of August at
battery in depth from its history, limitations
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a research
of conventional batteries, construction and
team comprising Dr. Robert Linhardt, Dr.
working of paper battery, advantages and
Omkaram Nalamasu and Dr. Pulickel
limitations and at the end the conclusion of
Ajayan. These three developed the paper
the topic.
battery. In Dec 2009, at Stanford
Keywords University, Yi Cui and his team invented
the original working prototype that has a
1. Carbon nanotubes.
output voltage of 1.5 V at its terminal
2. Paper battery.
voltages.
3. Cellulose.
2. WORKING OF A CONVENTIONAL BATTERY
Now we will study how a conventional
1.1. INTRODUCTION
battery works. We know that there a large
In present time the batteries are used in number of batteries available in the market
every device. Today you will rarely find but they all work on the same concept. A
any device which do not use batteries to battery is a device which stores energy in
recharge itself. Thus batteries plays a vital the form of chemical energy and converts it
role in every individual’s life. We know into electrical energy.
that batteries are used to store charge so that
If we see a battery, we will find that there
if we are in such a place where there is no
are 3 main components that are present in
avaibility of electricity to run your device
the battery. The two components are the
then we can use the charge stored in
two terminals (metals) i.e. anode and
batteries to run our device. There are
cathode that are made up of different
different types of devices which uses
chemicals and the third one is the
different types of batteries which are of
electrolyte which separates these two
different capabilities, different sizes and
terminals. Electrolyte acts as a medium
also different supply. They also consume a
which allows the flow of electrons or
lot of space when they are kept inside a
electric charges between the two terminals.
device. In earlier days, batteries we use to
Whenever any device is connected to a
have batteries that are having not that much
battery, there is a chemical reaction that
occurs on the electrodes and electrical
energy is transferred to the device.
If we describe this in more detail then
during a discharge of electricity, the
chemicals present on the anode releases the
electrons to the negative terminal of the
battery and ions into the electrolyte and all
this process is termed as oxidation reaction.
Meanwhile, the electrons that are released
are accepted by the cathode, completing the
circuit and there is flow of electrons in the
circuit. The function of electrolyte is that it
maintains the different chemicals of the
anode and cathode in contact with each
other and convert chemical energy into
electrical energy. These two reactions
discussed above happens simultaneously
and this is how electric current is generated.
There are a lot of problems faced by
conventional batteries are:
1. Limited Life time period:- We
know that there are two types of
batteries. Primary batteries are those
types of batteries which can not
recharged whereas Secondary
batteries are those which can be
recharged. Although these can be
recharged but their life time is very
less and they are also very costly
than primary batteries. Paper
batteries provides better advantage
over these.
2. Environmental Problems: - We
know these batteries are very toxic
so the extensive use of these
batteries generates environmental
pollution like toxic metal pollution
etc. where as paper batteries are
environmentally friendly.
3. Leakage: - As we know that all
these batteries contains a lot of
chemicals and if there is leakage
than these could be very dangerous
and harmful. There are no
chemicals presents in the paper
batteries.
4. Solar Cell :- These batteries cannot
be used under all circumstances like
emergency backup, emergency
power purge. Solar Cells are also
not portable as their size is very
large.
3. INTRODUCTION TO PAPER BATTERY
In today’s world we all that how our world
is growing at a rapid rate and new
technologies are being invented every day.
So, in this context only we will discuss
about a new and very innovative
technology that will definitely
revolutionize the future is PAPER
BATTERY TECHNOLOGY. As its name
implies there will a paper which will act as
a battery and will act as a power source. If
we go into a more detail technical
definition, we will say that paper battery is
a type of power source which is flexible as
well as thin unlike our big batteries. This is
actually made with a combination of carbon
nanotubes with cellulose based paper. We
can use this paper battery in two ways as
first as a battery and second as a capacitor.
Due to this these batteries can be used to
power a device for a long period of time and
also provides steady supply. These batteries
are non-toxic and can be used to act as
power source for the next generation
electronic devices.
If we further define the ability of this
battery then we can say that these batteries
can be folded, cut and can also be shaped
according to the application without losing
its integrity and efficiency. If we want to
increase the output power then a large no of
these batteries can be stacked upon each
other. We can obtain an output voltage
supply of 2.5 V if we use a postal stamp size
battery.
Paper Battery = Carbon Nanotubes +
Cellulose(paper).
3.1 CARBON NANOTUBES:
We know that Carbons has a lot of
allotropes. Some of them are diamonds,
graphite etc. These takes the form of a
cylindrical shape carbon molecules and
have properties that makes these as
potentially useful materials in wide variety
of applications like in nanotechnology,
electronics, optics etc.
These have an extraordinary and unique
properties and also exhibit greater strength
and are very efficient conductors of heat.
There are two types of nanotubes:
1. Single Walled Nanotubes.
2. Multi Walled Nanotubes.
If we consider the structure of the carbon
nanotubes, we can see that in carbon
nanotubes each carbon is attached to the
other three carbon atoms in order to form a
cylindrical structure.
Use of carbon nanotubes and cellulose
in the manufacturing of the paper
battery
3.2 Properties of Carbon Nanotubes
used in paper battery
1. These carbon tubes are very
much flexible and are very light
in weight.
2. These also provide high tensile
strength to the structure of the
tubes.
3. These are a very good conductors
of electricity.
4. All the carbon atoms are high
packed and due to this it has very
low mass density.
5. As these are a very good
conductors of electricity these
also provides very low
resistance.
6. Ratio of width : length used is 1 :
10^7 .
7. Very low resistance of the order
of (~ 33 ohm per sq. inch).
8. Temperature operating range is (-
75 to 150 ) degree C.
3.3 Properties of Cellulose used in
paper battery
1. As it is a cellulose, so it is a
biodegradable material and a
high bio compatible material.
2. It also provides very low shear
strength.
3. Provides high tensile strength.
4. It is highly nontoxic.
5. It can easily be recycled and
reused.
The output voltage of paper battery is
around 1.5V – 2.5V.
The Output voltage of battery is directly
proportional to the concentration of the
carbon nanotubes.
Stacking the paper and CNT multiplies
the output voltage whereas slicing the
paper and CNT divides the output
voltage.
For length l = ( V ) volts.
For length l/2 = ( V/2 ) volts.
3.4 CONSTRUCTION OF PAPER
BATTERY
Now we will divert our focus towards
the construction of paper battery. A brief
explanation is provided.
1. We use Carbon Nanotubes as
cathodes.
2. Lithium Metal as anode.
 3. All electrolytes.
4. Cellulose as separator
The process of construction of a paper
battery is as follows:
1. In the First step what we do is we
take a common xerox paper of
the desired shape and size.
2. Now over this paper sample we
spread a specially formulated ink
which contains some suitable
substrates (termed as CNT ink)
and all this is done using Mayer
rod method.
3. When the solvent applied is
completely absorbed and is dried
out in an oven there acts a strong
capillary force in the paper,
which enables it to have a high
contact surface area between the
paper and nanotubes.
4. Now a thin Lithium film is
completely laminated over the
exposed surface area of the
cellulose and this makes our
paper battery.
3.5 WORKING OF PAPER BATTERY:
If we see the performance of paper battery
it is somewhat similar to the conventional
batteries by generating a output voltage of
1.5V.
If we recall the working principle of the
traditional batteries where +ve charged
particles (ions) and -ve charged particles
(electrons) moves between the electrodes
i.e. anode (+ve electrode) and cathode (-ve
electrode). Due to this movement of the
electrons current starts flowing between the
two electrodes. Similar things happen in the
paper battery.
In paper battery, Lithium (Metal) is used as
a anode and the carbon nanotubes is used as
a cathode and cellulose or paper is used as
a separator. Due to presence of electrolyte
there is a chemical reaction that occurs
between electrolyte and carbon due to
which electrons are generated. In the same
fashion when electrolyte reacts with metals
ions are generated. These electrons which
are generated starts flowing in the external
circuit.
4 .1 Advantages of Using Paper Battery
1. Unlike conventional batteries that
we use, paper batteries can be easily
folded, can easily be cut and can
also be rolled.
2. These batteries can both acts as a
battery as well as a capacitor.
3. As these are ultra-thin in size, so
these require small space.
4. These are biodegradable and non-
compatible.
5. These are reusable and recyclable.
6. These can also generate output
voltage same as conventional
batteries.
7. We can easily alter the output
voltage and it is not costly.
8. No leakage an overheating.
4.2 Disadvantages of Using Paper
Battery
1. As we know that cellulose has a low
shear strength, so these batteries
also has a low strength so these can
be easily torned.
2. Construction of the carbon
nanotubes is expensive.
3. If inhaled these can easily damage
our lungs.
5 APPLICATION OF PAPER BATTERY
We can easily predict some of its
application directly by reading some of its
properties. So, we can say that these can
prove very beneficial where portability and
size is the biggest requirement.
If we see in todays world there is huge
requirement of batteries which are thin,
long lasting and non-toxic. Modern day
electronic gadgets and equipements like
smart cards, digital watches etc.
1. Wearable Computers :- If we want
to see the latest real time examples
Google glass is one of the best one.
Google Glass is actually a normal
spectacle with an optical head
mounted display present in it and
the glass is a computer in the form
of a eyeglasses.
2. Can also be used to power some
electronic devices calculators, wrist
watches and also some of the
wireless communication devices
like mouse, Bluetooth headphones,
keypads etc.
3. Similarly we can also use paper
batteries in medical sciences like for
.
artificial tissues, cosmetics, drug
delivery systems etc.
4. Due to their light weight these are
also used in automobiles and
aircrafts.
6. RESOURCES
1. https://www.youtube.com
2. https://www.seminarsonly.com/electro
nics/Paper_Battery.php
3. https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/c
arbon_nanotube.htm
4. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8
116860 ( published in 2017).
5. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics
( Volume: 33 , Issue: 11 , Nov. 2018 )
6. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7
863439 (published in 2017)
7. IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology (
Volume: 12 , Issue: 3 , May 2013 )