title: Molecular Functionalization of Graphene Oxide for Next-Generation Wearable Electronics.
abstract: Acquiring reliable and efficient wearable electronics requires the development of flexible electrolyte membranes (EMs) for energy storage systems with high performance and minimum dependency on the operating conditions. Herein, a freestanding graphene oxide (GO) EM is functionalized with 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (HMIM) molecules via both covalent and noncovalent bonds induced by esterification reactions and electrostatic πcation-π stacking, respectively. Compared to the commercial polymeric membrane, the thin HMIM/GO membrane demonstrates not only slightest performance sensitivity to the operating conditions but also a superior hydroxide conductivity of 0.064 ± 0.0021 S cm(-1) at 30% RH and room temperature, which was 3.8 times higher than that of the commercial membrane at the same conditions. To study the practical application of the HMIM/GO membranes in wearable electronics, a fully solid-state, thin, flexible zinc-air battery and supercapacitor are made exhibiting high battery performance and capacitance at low humidified and room temperature environment, respectively, favored by the bonded HMIM molecules on the surface of GO nanosheets. The results of this study disclose the strong potential of manipulating the chemical structure of GO to work as a lightweight membrane in wearable energy storage devices, possessing highly stable performance at different operating conditions, especially at low relative humidity and room temperature.
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo , 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1.
authors: Hadis
authors: H
authors: Zarrin
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo , 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1.
authors: Serubbabel
authors: S
authors: Sy
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo , 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1.
authors: Jing
authors: J
authors: Fu
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo , 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1.
authors: Gaopeng
authors: G
authors: Jiang
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo , 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1.
authors: Keunwoo
authors: K
authors: Kang
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo , 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1.
authors: Yun-Seok
authors: YS
authors: Jun
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo , 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1.
authors: Aiping
authors: A
authors: Yu
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo , 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Fowler
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo , 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1.
authors: Zhongwei
authors: Z
authors: Chen
keywords: flexible electronics; graphene oxide; ion conductivity; ionic liquids; supercapacitors; zinc−air batteries