Intrinsically stretchable supercapacitors composed of polypyrrole electrodes and highly stretchable gel electrolyte.
There has been an emerging interest in stretchable power sources compatible with flexible/wearable electronics. Such power sources must be able to withstand large mechanical strains and still maintain function. Here we report a highly stretchable H3PO4-poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) polymer electrolyte obtained by optimizing the polymer molecular weight and its weight ratio to H3PO4 in terms of conductivity and mechanical properties. The electrolyte demonstrates a high conductivity of 3.4 × 10(-3) S cm(-1), and a high fracture strain at 410% elongation. It is mechanically robust with a tensile strength of 2 MPa and a Young's modulus of 1 MPa, and displays a small plastic deformation (5%) after 1000 stretching cycles at 100% strain. A stretchable supercapacitor device has been developed based on buckled polypyrrole electrodes and the polymer electrolyte. The device shows only a small capacitance loss of 5.6% at 30% strain, and can retain 81% of the initial capacitance after 1000 cycles of such stretching.
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, AIIM Facility, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong , Wollongong, New South Wales 2522, Australia.
Chen
C
Zhao
Caiyun
C
Wang
Zhilian
Z
Yue
Kewei
K
Shu
Gordon G
GG
Wallace
D055119:Elastic Modulus; D025802:Electric Capacitance; D004566:Electrodes; D004573:Electrolytes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D010756:Phosphoric Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000737:chemistry*; D013718:Tensile Strength
D004573:Electrolytes; D005782:Gels; D010756:Phosphoric Acids; D011108:Polymers; D011758:Pyrroles; C067635:polypyrrole; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol; C030242:phosphoric acid