Fabrication of Robust, Highly Conductive, and Elastic Hybrid Carbon Foam Platform for High-Performance Compressible Asymmetry Supercapacitors

Xueqin Zhang; Le Huang; Yan Qing; Zhifei Gao; Yiqiang Wu; Shaoheng Hu; Liaoyuan Xia

doi:10.1021/acsomega.1c00952

Fabrication of Robust, Highly Conductive, and Elastic Hybrid Carbon Foam Platform for High-Performance Compressible Asymmetry Supercapacitors

ACS Omega. 2021 May 25;6(22):14230-14241. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.1c00952. eCollection 2021 Jun 8.

Authors

Xueqin Zhang^{1

2}, Le Huang¹, Yan Qing¹, Zhifei Gao^{1

2}, Yiqiang Wu¹, Shaoheng Hu¹, Liaoyuan Xia^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Material Science and Engineering, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, P. R. China.
² Hunan Province Key Laboratory of Materials Surface & Interface Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, P. R. China.

Abstract

Highly conductive and elastic three-dimensional (3D) porous carbon materials are ideal platforms to fabricate electrodes for high-performance compressible supercapacitors. Herein, a robust, highly conductive, and elastic carbon foam (CF) hybrid material is reported, which is fabricated by integrating cellulose nanofiber/multiwalled carbon nanotube (CNF/MWCNT) aerogel sheets with a melamine sponge (MS), followed by carbonization. The carbonized CNF/MWCNT aerogel sheets contribute to the high conductivity and specific surface area of the CF, and the 3D network-like skeleton derived from the carbonization of the MS enhances the elasticity and stability of the CF. More importantly, the CF possesses good scalability, allowing the introduction of electroactive materials such as polypyrrole (PPy) and Fe₃O₄ to fabricate high-performance compressible PPy-CF and Fe₃O₄-CF electrodes. Moreover, an assembled PPy-CF//Fe₃O₄-CF device shows reversible charging-discharging at a voltage of 1.6 V and demonstrates a high specific capacitance (172.5 F/g) and an outstanding energy density (59.9 W h/kg). The device exhibits capacitance retention rates reaching 98.3% and stable energy storage characteristics even under different degrees of compressive deformation. This study offers a scalable strategy for fabricating high-performance compressible supercapacitors, thereby providing a new means of satisfying the energy storage needs of portable electronic devices that are prone to deformation.