Direct Inkjet Printing of Aqueous Inks to Flexible All-Solid-State Graphene Hybrid Micro-Supercapacitors

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2019 Dec 11;11(49):46044-46053. doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b12225. Epub 2019 Nov 25.

Abstract

In this article, the inkjet printing technique is demonstrated for the stacking of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) nanosheets for flexible all-solid-state micro-supercapacitors. The ammonium molybdate tetrahydrate/graphene oxide ((NH4)6Mo7O24·4H2O/GO) aqueous inks are facilely printed on polymide (PI) film and transformed to RGO/MoO3 hybrids via thermal treatments at air atmosphere. The compound inks are water-based, inkjet-printable, and nontoxic for inkjet printing to form two-dimensional crystal materials. The physical properties of aqueous inks are optimized within a printable range characterized by the Ohnesorge number of 1 < Z < 14. The inkjet-printed symmetric micro-supercapacitors (MSCs) with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-H2SO4 gel electrolyte possess a wide voltage window of 0-0.8 V, excellent flexibility, a high volumetric specific capacitance of 22.5 F cm-3 at 0.044 A cm-3, as well as good cyclic stability due to the synergistic effect of RGO and MoO3. Furthermore, the inkjet-printed composite MSCs delivered a maximum energy density of 2 mWh cm-3 and a power density of 0.018 W cm-3, and the capacity retention rate of inkjet-printed MSCs is still retained 82% even after 10 000 charge-discharge cycles, indicating good electrochemical properties. Above all, the as-designed inkjet printing technique shows potential for flexible and wearable energy storage electronics.

Keywords: all-solid-state; flexible; graphene hybrids; inkjet printing; micro-supercapacitors.