Researchers in South Korea have developed a new material for energy storage devices that achieves something quite unusual: it can be stretched to approximately nine times its original size while remaining functional. Developed by researchers at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) , the material is a type of hydrogel electrolyte that incorporates liquid metal particles.

Electrolytes are fundamental components of batteries and other energy storage devices; they facilitate the movement of ions between electrodes during charge and discharge cycles. The researchers also added lithium chloride to the hydrogel; this helps prevent the water within its structure from freezing easily, allowing the material to continue functioning at temperatures as low as approximately -20°C.

This combination opens up possibilities for devices that conventional rigid batteries struggle to accommodate—such as wearable electronics, sensors that move with the body, bio-integrated devices, and energy storage systems capable of repeated bending and stretching during use.

This does not mean that by tomorrow we will have a battery that can be stretched like a rubber band; challenges regarding long-term stability and the consistent large-scale manufacturing of this material still remain. However, as electronics move beyond rigid surfaces to be incorporated into clothing, flexible objects, and even devices that move with our bodies, batteries will also need to adapt to bend along with them.