title: Magnetic-Assisted, Self-Healable, Yarn-Based Supercapacitor.
abstract: Yarn-based supercapacitors have received considerable attention recently, offering unprecedented opportunities for future wearable electronic devices (e.g., smart clothes). However, the reliability and lifespan of yarn-based supercapacitors can be seriously limited by accidental mechanical damage during practical applications. Therefore, a supercapacitor endowed with mechanically and electrically self-healing properties is a brilliant solution to the challenge. Compared with the conventional planar-like or large wire-like structure, the reconnection of the broken yarn electrode composed of multiple tiny fibers (diameter <20 μm) is much more difficult and challenging, which directly affects the restoration of electrical conductivity after damage. Herein, a self-healable yarn-based supercapacitor that ensures the reconnection of broken electrodes has been successfully developed by wrapping magnetic electrodes around a self-healing polymer shell. The strong force from magnetic attraction between the broken yarn electrodes benefits reconnection of fibers in the yarn electrodes during self-healing and thus offers an effective strategy for the restoration of electric conductivity, whereas the polymer shell recovers the configuration integrity and mechanical strength. With the design, the specific capacitance of our prototype can be restored up to 71.8% even after four breaking/healing cycles with great maintenance of the whole device's mechanical properties. This work may inspire the design and fabrication of other distinctive self-healable and wearable electronic devices.
authors.affiliation: †Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: †Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: †Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China.
authors.forename: Minshen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: †Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China.
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: †Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China.
authors.forename: Zengxia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pei
authors.affiliation: ‡Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Hong Chong Road, Hung Hom, Hong Kong 999077, China.
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: ‡Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Hong Chong Road, Hung Hom, Hong Kong 999077, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: †Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China.|§Shenzhen Research Institute, City University of Hong Kong, 8 Yuexing Yi Road, Nanshan, Shenzhen 518000, China.
authors.forename: Chunyi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhi
keywords: magnetic-assisted; self-healable; supercapacitor; yarn