Textile-based supercapacitors for flexible and wearable electronic applications

Abstract

Electronic textiles have garnered significant attention as smart technology for next-generation wearable electronic devices. The existing power sources lack compatibility with wearable devices due to their limited flexibility, high cost, and environment unfriendliness. In this work, we demonstrate bamboo fabric as a sustainable substrate for developing supercapacitor devices which can easily integrate to wearable electronics. The work demonstrates a replicable printing process wherein different metal oxide inks are directly printed over bamboo fabric substrates. The MnO2–NiCo2O4 is used as a positive electrode, rGO as a negative electrode, and LiCl/PVA gel as a solid-state electrolyte over the bamboo fabrics for the development of battery-supercapacitor hybrid device. The textile-based MnO2–NiCo2O4//rGO asymmetric supercapacitor displays excellent electrochemical performance with an overall high areal capacitance of 2.12 F/cm2 (1,766 F/g) at a current density of 2 mA/cm2, the excellent energy density of 37.8 mW/cm3, a maximum power density of 2,678.4 mW/cm3 and good cycle life. Notably, the supercapacitor maintains its electrochemical performance under different mechanical deformation conditions, demonstrating its excellent flexibility and high mechanical strength. The proposed strategy is beneficial for the development of sustainable electronic textiles for wearable electronic applications.