Sustainable Batteries for Portable Devices and Their Potential Applications

Demand for portable and wearable electronic devices has shown an unprecedented growth that warrants designing novel materials for their batteries. As electronic devices are shrinking in size, so will be their batteries. Miniaturizing battery design necessitates tremendous efforts for obtaining light-weight electrodes, novel electrolytes without compromising energy densities, battery life, stability, mechanical flexibilities, and durability. Besides designing tiny batteries for portable electronics, there is an urgent need to replace conventional carbon-based electrodes and other battery elements such as electrolytes and separators. Lithium-ion batteries are extensively studied and considered as ubiquitous energy storage devices that power most of the consumer electronics. Besides LIBs, other metal-based batteries are redesigned to serve as rechargeable portable energy storage devices. We have reached the crux of solving these issues at the engineering or design level to develop advanced energy storage batteries. Today, novel electrode materials such as MOFs, COFs and MXene-based materials are posited for use in most portable batteries, though their commercialization is still underway. Various electrolytes such as fluorinated solvents, gel/polymer-based solvents, and ionic liquids are utilized in rechargeable batteries. This chapter presents a detailed discussion on designing portable batteries, novel electrodes and electrolytes, and their performance dynamics. A detailed highlight on battery safety, dendrite problems and other challenges on designing sustainable batteries is presented. Finally, different applications of novel rechargeable batteries in wearable electronics, medical devices and robotics is discussed.