revolutionize wearables and energy

Technologies are developing by leaps and bounds. Let’s take the smartphone industry as an example. Every year we get phones with more and more powerful processors (for example, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra or the A18 in the iPhone 16 Pro). Screens are brighter (reaching staggering numbers) and cameras have the ability to record LOG video at 4K120 or even 8K resolution. All this eats up a lot, a lot of battery, and everything evolves… except the battery itself.

Yes, thanks to new technologies, manufacturers are able to create batteries with greater capacity and density, but lithium-ion technology has a ceiling and it seems that we have already reached it. If we want more, we must produce larger batteries or invent new technology. And since graphene looks like it will never appear, we need to investigate. That’s exactly what Samsung has done, having just unveiled its smallest solid-state battery yet.

Solid State. Modern batteries for the vast majority of devices consist of lithium ions. They have a liquid or jelly-like electrolyte inside and have three main disadvantages: they can leak and catch fire if overheated, they degrade over time after many charging cycles, and every time we want to increase their capacity, we must also increase their size.

They represented a huge improvement over previous nickel-cadmium ones, but as we say, they are not evolving at the same pace as other electronic components. This is where solid-state batteries come into play. The electrolyte in them is solid and they improve the weak points of lithium ones: the risk of leaks and fires is reduced, they charge faster, have a higher density and a longer service life.

All benefits. The fact that they are denser means that for the same size the capacity is higher, but they also generate less heat during use and charging, so they are more efficient and there is no need to have heat dissipation elements aimed at suffocating the battery. temperature.

Wearable devices. After the presentation, one of the companies that has a say in modern technology was Samsung, and the South Koreans from their electromechanical division Samsung presented their first small-sized solid-state battery. The company has filed more than 40 patents related to the technology and said it has developed the first ultra-small oxide solid-state battery for compact devices.

It’s very small (prototypes can be seen in the image), but the company claims it has an energy density of 200Wh per liter, comparable to much larger lithium-ion batteries. The model is scalable, allowing the production of solid-state batteries ranging in size from millimeters to centimeters and can be manufactured in any desired shape. There are plans to use these batteries in wearable devices (the dream is to have a smartwatch like the Watch 6 Ultra or Galaxy Ring with greater battery life).

Energy sector. But at the end of the day, the application of these new technologies is scalable. Samsung’s printing process involves laying down layers of enormous density, which avoids both the swelling problems of lithium-ion batteries and the need for additional space when they expand due to heat. And they could create tiny batteries for wearable devices, as well as others better suited for use with renewable energy sources.

The fact that they run cooler and are less likely to leak fluid due to increased temperature makes for very interesting applications in other areas such as solar energy storage. Plus, being able to store more energy in the same size would mean we wouldn’t need huge batteries if we wanted to go off grid, for example.

Also in family size. And Samsung may already be thinking about all of this. A few months ago, the company introduced a much larger solid-state battery, the Samsung Super Gap. It is designed for electric vehicles (interestingly, it also withstands impacts better than traditional batteries) and has a capacity of about 900 Wh/L. In the case of electric vehicles, fast charging is also interesting since they are ready to charge from 8 to 80% in less than 10 minutes. They are not the only ones.

there’s not much left. The biggest disadvantage is obviously that this is a new technology, so production costs will be high at first until manufacturing companies optimize both the process and materials. But with Samsung saying they will begin mass production of their new ultra-small solid-state batteries in 2026, and Super Gap in 2027, it seems clear that the next generation of batteries is getting closer.

Images | Samsung (via Korea Times)

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