Issue 5, 2019

Self-woven nanofibrillar PEDOT mats for impact-resistant supercapacitors

Abstract

Here, we demonstrate a nanoengineering strategy that leads to an impact-resistant electrode for flexible energy storage devices such as supercapacitors resulting in state-of-the-art electrochemical performance. A template-less direct vapor synthesis produces a mat of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) 1D nanostructures. A nucleation-controlled self-weaving mechanism is supported enabling rapid synthesis of an electrochemically active flexible electrode in a single step from the vapor phase. Nanofibres self-assemble and “weave” in situ into a micrometer thick porous fibrillar mat characterized by a horizontally-directed interwoven nanofibrillar orientation. A nanofibrillar PEDOT mat is characterized by high conductivity (334 S cm−1), capacitance (164 F g−1) and flexibility (stable upon bending) as well as impact-resistance properties enabling it to withstand an impact energy density of 125 kJ m−2 and to continue storing energy. After a single 125 kJ m−2 mechanical impact, a symmetric electrochemical capacitor composed of nanofibrillar PEDOT mats is cycled for 11 000 times with 80% capacitance retention. After forty 125 kJ m−2 impacts, capacitance degrades by 6% and 1D electrode architecture remains.

Graphical abstract: Self-woven nanofibrillar PEDOT mats for impact-resistant supercapacitors

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Dec 2018
Accepted
17 Jan 2019
First published
18 Jan 2019

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2019,3, 1154-1162

Self-woven nanofibrillar PEDOT mats for impact-resistant supercapacitors

H. Wang, Luciano M. Santino, M. Rubin, Y. Diao, Y. Lu and J. M. D'Arcy, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2019, 3, 1154 DOI: 10.1039/C8SE00591E

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