An Intrinsically Stretchable and Compressible Supercapacitor Containing a Polyacrylamide Hydrogel Electrolyte

Abstract

Stretchability and compressibility of supercapacitors is an essential element of modern electronics, such as flexible, wearable devices. Widely used polyvinyl alcohol-based electrolytes are neither very stretchable nor compressible, which fundamentally limits the realization of supercapacitors with high stretchability and compressibility. A new electrolyte that is intrinsically super-stretchable and compressible is presented. Vinyl hybrid silica nanoparticle cross-linkers were introduced into polyacrylamide hydrogel backbones to promote dynamic cross-linking of the polymer networks. These cross-linkers serve as stress buffers to dissipate energy when strain is applied, providing a solution to the intrinsically low stretchability and compressibility shortcomings of conventional supercapacitors. The newly developed supercapacitor and electrolyte can be stretched up to an unprecedented 1000 % strain with enhanced performance, and compressed to 50 % strain with good retention of the initial performance.

A Wearable Second Skin‐Like Multifunctional Supercapacitor with Vertical Gold Nanowires and Electrochromic Polyaniline

“…[8][9][10] Many flexible and sometimes stretchable supercapacitors with impressive mechanical and electrochemical properties have been developed by using various material selections and designing strategies. [11][12][13][14][15][16] For www.advmattechnol.de that reversibly change its colors between green and blue during redox reactions. [38][39][40][41] Here, we report on a wearable second skin-like multifunctional supercapacitor with self-assembled vertical gold nanowires (v-AuNWs) and electrochromic PANI.…”

Gel Polymer Electrolytes for Electrochemical Energy Storage

“…[10][11][12][13] As a consequence, GPEs have become one of the most desirable alternatives among various electrolytes for the electrochemical energy storage devices, and significant progress has been made in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), supercapacitors (SCs), lithium-oxygen (Li-O 2 ) batteries as well as the other kinds of electrochemical energy storage devices, such as sodium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, fuel cells, and zinc-air batteries. [14][15][16] In order to meet the requirements of wearable devices for flexibility and deformability, more special GPEs with tough, [17] stretchable, [18] and compressible [19] functionalities have been also developed.Typically, a polymeric framework is adopted in GPEs as host material, providing high mechanical integrity. Several criteria for a good polymer host lie in: [20][21][22] (i) fast segmental motion of polymer chain; (ii) special groups promoting the dissolution of salts; (iii) low glass transition temperature (T g ); (iv) high molecular weight; (v) wide electrochemical window; (vi) high degradation temperature.…”

“…[10][11][12][13] As a consequence, GPEs have become one of the most desirable alternatives among various electrolytes for the electrochemical energy storage devices, and significant progress has been made in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), supercapacitors (SCs), lithium-oxygen (Li-O 2 ) batteries as well as the other kinds of electrochemical energy storage devices, such as sodium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, fuel cells, and zinc-air batteries. [14][15][16] In order to meet the requirements of wearable devices for flexibility and deformability, more special GPEs with tough, [17] stretchable, [18] and compressible [19] functionalities have been also developed.…”

Stretchable Supercapacitors as Emergent Energy Storage Units for Health Monitoring Bioelectronics

“…The sandwich-type supercapacitors can be fabricated from stretchable materials or by adopting buckled/wavy designs using prestraining strategy. [132] The prestraining strategy was further extended to biaxial directions, providing stretchability along all in-plane directions. The resultant sandwich-type supercapacitor exhibited a stretchability of 800%.…”