The rapidly growing Internet of Things (IoT) has brought about great demand for high-performance sensors as well as power supply devices for those sensors. In this respect, the integration of sensors and energy storage devices, or the development of multifunctional devices having both energy storage and sensing properties, is of great interest in the development of compact sensing systems. As a proof of concept, a zinc-ion hybrid supercapacitor (ZHS) based on a double-crosslinked hydrogel electrolyte is developed in this work, which can be employed not only as an energy storage device, but also as a self-powered sensor for human movement and breathing detection. The ZHS delivers a capacitance of 779 F g-1 and an energy density of 0.32 mWh cm-2 at a power density of 0.34 mW cm-2, as well as sensitive resistance response to strain. Our work provides a useful basis for future designs of self-powered sensing devices and function-integrated systems.
Keywords: Zn; crosslinked; hydrogel; self-powered sensor; supercapacitor.