A lightweight, flexible, and highly efficient energy management strategy is needed for flexible energy-storage devices to meet a rapidly growing demand. Graphene-based flexible supercapacitors are one of the most promising candidates because of their intriguing features. In this report, we describe the use of freestanding, lightweight (0.75 mg/cm(2)), ultrathin (<200 μm), highly conductive (55 S/cm), and flexible three-dimensional (3D) graphene networks, loaded with MnO(2) by electrodeposition, as the electrodes of a flexible supercapacitor. It was found that the 3D graphene networks showed an ideal supporter for active materials and permitted a large MnO(2) mass loading of 9.8 mg/cm(2) (~92.9% of the mass of the entire electrode), leading to a high area capacitance of 1.42 F/cm(2) at a scan rate of 2 mV/s. With a view to practical applications, we have further optimized the MnO(2) content with respect to the entire electrode and achieved a maximum specific capacitance of 130 F/g. In addition, we have also explored the excellent electrochemical performance of a symmetrical supercapacitor (of weight less than 10 mg and thickness ~0.8 mm) consisting of a sandwich structure of two pieces of 3D graphene/MnO(2) composite network separated by a membrane and encapsulated in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) membranes. This research might provide a method for flexible, lightweight, high-performance, low-cost, and environmentally friendly materials used in energy conversion and storage systems for the effective use of renewable energy.

NiCo2S4@CoSx core/shell nanotube arrays have been successfully synthesized and used to optimize the capacitive performance of electrochemical supercapacitors.

Pt-functionalized NiO composite nanotubes were synthesized by a simple electrospinning method, and their morphology, chemistry, and crystal structure have been characterized at the nanoscale. It was found that the Pt nanoparticles were dispersed uniformly in the NiO nanotubes, and the Pt-functionalized NiO composite nanotubes showed some dendritic structure in the body of nanotubes just like thorns growing in the nanotubes. Compared with the pristine NiO nanotube based gas sensor and other NiO-based gas sensors reported previously, the Pt-functionalized NiO composite nanotube based gas sensor showed substantially enhanced electrical responses to target gas (methane, hydrogen, acetone, and ethanol), especially ethanol. The NiO-Pt 0.7% composite nanotube based gas sensor displayed a response value of 20.85 at 100 ppm at ethanol and 200 °C, whereas the pristine NiO nanotube based gas sensor only showed a response of 2.06 under the same conditions. Moreover, the Pt-functionalized NiO composite nanotube based gas sensor demonstrated outstanding gas selectivity for ethanol against methane, hydrogen, and acetone. The reason for which the Pt-functionalized NiO composite nanotube based gas sensor obviously enhanced the gas sensing performance is attributed to the role of Pt on the chemical sensitization (catalytic oxidation) of target gases and the electronic sensitization (Fermi-level shifting) of NiO.

No abstract