Development, Characterization, and Prototyping of Ultra Flexible Thin-film Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices

With the rapid development flexible electronics, there is a demanding need for fully flexible, lightweight energy storage systems with high energy and power densities. Herein, two major types of novel hybrid composite electrodes for electrochemical capacitors (ECs) were studied, namely substrate supported composite powder electrodes and fully flexible standalone electrospun core-shell fiber electrodes. For hybrid composite powder electrodes, graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs)/polyaniline (PAni), multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT)/PAni, aluminum oxide (Al2O3)/PAni, and titanium dioxide (TiO2)/PAni, were created with in-situ chemical polymerization for optimized electrochemical performance. The electrospun core-shell structured electrodes were made using polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from recycled beverage bottles as the core material in combination with PAni and GnPs shells in forming high specific surface area three-dimensional networks to facilitate efficient ion transfer ensuring ideal charge storage behaviours along with improved mechanical properties. Finally, working EC prototypes were constructed and characterized with various electrolyte systems and novel composite current collectors.M.A.S.2017-06-22 00:00:0