The trend is that smartphones tend to become thinner and thinner and as such, new technologies are required to fit some long-lasting batteries into small spaces. Where does Kevlar though fit into all this? The battery front hasn’t quite kept up with the other smartphone advancements and as a consequence nowadays batteries are still sluggish and lagging compared to the cutting-edge specs the devices they inhabit have. Bottom line is that they have become unreliable, dangerous and overall pose some serious safety problems. Also, wouldn’t hurt if the form factor changed too as in making them slimmer if possible but with better endurance. Apparently, the answer(s) to these troublesome issues have been found by the researchers at the University of Michigan and it all boils down to Kevlar.
Currently in development, there are Kevlar-based nano-sized membranes that wrap and insulate the electrodes of a battery. The research team responsible for the development of the Kevlar-insulated batteries claim that this process greatly reduces the chances of a short that can lead to a fire and also allows more energy to fit in the given space, the goal ultimately being better battery life for slimmer devices. I have to say that right off the bat this does come handy to smartwatches and other wearables. And certainly the researchers from the University of Michigan who formed Elegus Technologies and by their positive forecast they are expecting to mass produce new and improved Kevlar-plated Li-Ion batteries coming late 2017. This sounds promising enough as most breakthroughs are concerned since most of them are full of hot air and deliver only promises and not actual application.
Kevlar membrane doesn’t burn even if directly exposed to fire
All in all there is some hope that with a safe and reasonable enough protection from spontaneous shorts that can occur and with little less room to occupy the battery life could improve and that would be a major difference. However this won’t make the batteries bulletproof though just because they are laden with Kevlar.