Impact of mechanical bending on the electrochemical performance of bendable lithium batteries with paper-like free-standing V 2O 5-polypyrrole cathodes

Highly flexible, paper-like, free-standing V 2O 5 and V 2O 5-polypyrrole (PPy) films were prepared via the vacuum filtration method. The films are soft, lightweight, and mechanically robust. The electrochemical performance of the free-standing pure V 2O 5 electrode was improved by incorporating conducting polypyrrole. A bendable cell with a novel design was fabricated, consisting of a free-standing V 2O 5-PPy cathode film, gel electrolyte, and a lithium foil anode. The cell was tested under repeated bending conditions for several cycles. The results show that the battery performance of the repeatedly bent cell was similar to that of the conventional cell. © 2012 The Royal Society of Chemistry.