Intrinsically stretchable supercapacitors composed of polypyrrole electrodes and highly stretchable gel electrolyte

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2013 Sep 25;5(18):9008-14. doi: 10.1021/am402130j. Epub 2013 Sep 5.

Abstract

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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Elastic Modulus
  • Electric Capacitance*
  • Electrodes
  • Electrolytes / chemistry*
  • Gels / chemistry*
  • Phosphoric Acids / chemistry
  • Polymers / chemistry*
  • Polyvinyl Alcohol / chemistry
  • Pyrroles / chemistry*
  • Tensile Strength

Substances

  • Electrolytes
  • Gels
  • Phosphoric Acids
  • Polymers
  • Pyrroles
  • polypyrrole
  • Polyvinyl Alcohol
  • phosphoric acid