New smartphone batteries for a better world.

'Safe' Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Batteries Are Still Exploding

By Kacey Deamer, Staff Writer | October 11, 2016 

There are at least 35 documented cases of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 bursting into flames.

Update (Oct. 11 at 12:30 p.m. ET): Samsung is permanently ending production of the Galaxy Note 7 after continued battery malfunctions caused some of the smartphones to catch fire.

On Tuesday (Oct. 11) Samsung filed a statement with the South Korean stock exchange declaring its "final decision" to stop production, reported the New York Times. A source told the newspaper that the company will no longer make or market the phones.

A statement on Samsung's website, also posted Tuesday, asked all Galaxy Note 7 consumers to "power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available." The company said it has also asked all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the smartphones.

Samsung has reportedly suspended production of the company's Galaxy Note 7 smartphone because the devices — plagued by battery problems that were causing some phones to catch fire — are still at risk of exploding.

Last month, Samsung issued a global recall of the Galaxy Note 7 after several incidents in which the phone's lithium-ion battery caught fire. But now, reports have emerged that new devices sent out to replace the faulty phones face the same explosive problems.

There are seven reports thus far of "safe" Galaxy Note 7s exploding, reported Ars Technica. One of the first reported incidents of a replacement phone catching fire was aboard a Southwest Airlines plane that was parked on the tarmac. 

The plane was evacuated, and no injuries were reported, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson told The Verge.

Last week, a man in Kentucky went to the emergency room "vomiting black" after he woke up to find that his replacement phone had caught fire and his bedroom was filled with smoke. The owner of that Galaxy Note 7, Michael Klering, told a local CBS station that the phone "was just sitting there," not plugged in.

"The phone is supposed to be the replacement, so you would have thought it would be safe," Klering told WKYT.

In Minnesota on Oct. 7, a replacement phone melted in a 13-year-old girl's hand, an ABC affiliate reported.

Though Samsung has not addressed what specifically is causing the phones to catch fire, a faulty lithium-ion battery can meet with fiery ends, Lloyd Gordon, the chief electrical safety officer at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, told Live Science last year.

A faulty battery, for instance, can be overcharged. While well-made batteries stop charging automatically once full, a faulty battery's lithium ions can collect in one spot and be deposited as metallic lithium within the battery if left plugged in for too long, Gordon said. If this happens, the heat from the overcharging can cause oxygen bubbles, which are highly reactive with metallic lithium. If they combine, the reaction can lead to an explosion. Defective batteries can also be over-discharged, Gordon said. If the lithium-ion battery does not shut off when the power is too low, it can cause the phone to catch fire, he added.

A Samsung spokesperson addressed the explosive replacement phones in a statement to The Verge:

"We are working diligently with authorities and third-party experts and will share findings when we have completed the investigation. Even though there are a limited number of reports, we want to reassure customers that we are taking every report seriously. If we determine a product safety issue exists, Samsung will take immediate steps approved by the CPSC [Consumer Product Safety Commission] to resolve the situation."

As a result of these battery malfunctions, Samsung has reportedly stopped production of the Galaxy Note 7. According to Yonhap News Agency in South Korea, an official at a supplier for Samsung said Monday (Oct. 10) that production has temporarily been suspended. The anonymous source told the news outlet that Samsung is cooperating with consumer safety regulators from South Korea, the United States and China.

Samsung hasn't officially confirmed that it's halting production of the smartphone, but it did provide the following statement to Tom's Guide: "We are temporarily adjusting the Galaxy Note7 production schedule in order to take further steps to ensure quality and safety matters."

Bendable Battery May Power Future Wearable Devices, Smartphones

By Kacey Deamer, Staff Writer | October 17, 2016 

A new bendable lithium-ion battery that can flex and twist could power wearable devices and one day be used to develop a flexible smartphone, according to Panasonic, which is developing the new battery.

Although it's still in the early stages of development, the battery already has been tested to withstand twists, bends and other deformations while maintaining its ability to hold a charge, according to Panasonic. In contrast, a regular lithium-ion battery, commonly used in smartphones and other gadgets, can degrade when it is deformed, thus shortening the device's operating time, the company said.

The battery was unveiled earlier this month during the annual Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (CEATEC), a technology fair held from Oct. 4 to Oct. 7 in Japan. 

Lithium-ion batteries can be highly volatile if they malfunction, as was the case with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which was plagued by battery problems that caused them to overheat and sometimes explode. Faulty batteries can catch fire when they are overcharged, because the lithium ions can collect in one spot and be deposited as metallic lithium. If this happens, the heat from the overcharging can cause oxygen bubbles to form, which are highly reactive with metallic lithium. If they combine, this can lead to an explosion.

Panasonic's bendable battery uses "a newly developed laminated outer body and internal structure" that the company said makes it difficult for the battery to leak or overheat. With this new casing and internal wiring, the battery is both safer and more reliable for wearable tech devices, the company said.

The bendable battery is just 0.02 inches (0.55 millimeters) thick, and was able to withstand being bent so that the curve of the battery has a radius of 25mm, and being twisted up to 25 degrees in tests, according to Panasonic. The company noted that the capacity of these batteries is still small — they can hold a charge between 17.5 mAh (for the smallest size) and 60 mAh (for the largest). For comparison, the iPhone 7 has a 1,960-mAh battery. Though further development is needed before the battery will be ready for use in smartphones, the invention could be suitable for low-power devices such as smart cards or smart clothing, Panasonic said.

"When used in card devices such as smart cards and card keys that work on batteries, as well as body-worn devices and smart clothing, this battery can retain its characteristics even if the device is frequently bent or twisted," the company said in a statement.

Though samples of the battery were on display at the conference and sample shipments are scheduled for the end of the month, Panasonic said mass production will require further product development.

Resume: After Samsung declared that they took the final decision of stopping the production and the sales of their brand new smartphone, they collapsed of the South Korean Stock Exchange. Many cases reported that the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had bursted into flame while people were sleeping, while they were caring it in their pocket or even during a flight in the United-States. The fault came from the overcharged battery. A battery's lithium ions can collect in one spot and be deposited as metallic lithium within the battery if left plugged in for too long. Then, the heat from the overcharging can cause oxygen bubbles, which are highly reactive with metallic lithium. If they mix up, the reaction can lead to an explosion and was exactly what happened to Samsung Galaxy Note 7.

The company Panasonic just invented a new lithium-ion battery which can bend, flex and twist. According to the company, this battery has difficulty to leak or to overheat when it is charging. Even if it is still a prototype and for low-power devices, it will surely concurrence Samsung’s faulty batteries. 

This will allow a safer environment for us and I’m excited about this new concept because if it sais flexible batteries, that means flexible devises as smart clothes or new intelligent watches.