Date: May 19, 2014 Source: Company Data (
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FlexTech Alliance, an industry consortium for flexible, printed electronics, today announced the completion of its project with Imprint Energy of Alameda, Calif., for the print manufacturing of ultrathin, flexible, and rechargeable batteries. The project is one of a series of demonstrators currently being funded by FlexTech under its agreement with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. The purpose of the demonstrator project is to show how multiple key components such as the power source, display, and other electronics, can be incorporated onto a flexible substrate to produce a specific product.
Numerous technical goals were set by Imprint Energy and the consortium's Technical Council including, scaling the manufacturing process, increasing single cell discharge capacity and rate capability, developing flexibility test protocols and equipment, and benchmarking Imprint Energy and commercial battery bend properties. However, the primary objective of this project was to design and manufacture a wearable wrist-worn device powered by Imprint Energy's ZincPoly™ battery. The wearable device features a digital display that outputs information from a body sensor, and communicates wirelessly with a smartphone. All of the device components, including the wireless communication module, are powered by the printed flexible battery.
Wrist-worn prototype developed for FlexTech Alliance / Imprint Energy project.Wrist-worn prototype developed for FlexTech Alliance / Imprint Energy project.
"Imprint Energy achieved all project objectives. The prototype developed during this project provides a variety of functions integrated into a flexible, wrist-worn device that combines wireless communication, an E Ink® display, and sensor, all powered by Imprint Energy's ultrathin, flexible, ZincPoly batteries," stated Dr. Devin MacKenzie, CEO of Imprint Energy. "The wrist-worn device conforms to a minimum 25 mm bend radius and can be dynamically flexed thousands of times without performance degradation, which potential customers and partners have identified as the typical bend radii for wrist-worn wearable electronics."
"FlexTech congratulates Imprint Energy on the successful completion of this project, which greatly advances power supply sources for wearable devices," stated Dr. Malcolm J. Thompson, chief technical advisor to the consortium. The $700,000 project was cost shared between Imprint Energy and FlexTech.
