Supercapacitors (SCs) have shown great potential for mobile energy storage technology owing to their long-term durability, electrochemical stability, structural simplicity, as well as exceptional power density without much compromise in the energy density and cycle life parameters. As a result, stretchable SC devices have been incorporated in a variety of emerging electronics applications ranging from wearable electronic textiles to microrobots to integrated energy systems. In this review, the recent progress and achievements in the field of stretchable SCs enabled by low-dimensional nanomaterials such as polypyrrole, carbon nanotubes, and graphene are presented. First, the three major categories of stretchable supercapacitors are discussed: double-layer supercapacitors, pseudo-supercapacitors, and hybrid supercapacitors. Then, the representative progress in developing stretchable electrodes with low-dimensional (0D, 1D, and 2D) nanomaterials is described. Next, the design strategies enabling the stretchability of the devices, including the wavy-shape design, wire-shape design, textile-shape design, kirigami-shape design, origami-shape design, and serpentine bridge-island design are emphasized, with the aim of improving the electrochemical performance under the complex stretchability conditions that may be encountered in practical applications. Finally, the newest developments, major challenges, and outlook in the field of stretchable SC development and manufacturing are discussed.
Keywords: energy storage devices; flexible electronics; low-dimensional nanomaterials; stretchable supercapacitors; wearable electronics.
© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.