3D printed supercapacitor using porous carbon derived from packaging waste

Abstract

There is considerable interest in developing sustainable fabrication technologies such as additive manufacturing or 3D printing for solid-state supercapacitors. The 3D printing of supercapacitors offers advantages such as rapid prototyping of 3D electrode structures that can improve device performance. Most of the efforts on 3D printing of such devices till date have faced some challenges including low capacitance shown by printed devices, significant post-processing on printed electrodes, and the use of non-additive fabrication methods to make the solid electrolyte. To better derive the benefits of 3D printing, it is important to address these challenges. In this paper, we demonstrate a solid-state supercapacitor made by extrusion-based 3D printing without post-processing, using a commercial 3D printer. Both the electrodes and electrolyte were 3D printed. The electrode material is activated carbon synthesized from packaging waste. The device shows a capacitance of 328.95 m F/cm2 at 2.5 mA, the highest among all solid-state supercapacitors made by extrusion-based 3D printing till date. This capacity is attributed to the porous carbon used as active material, and the high loading of this carbon in the electrodes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a 3D printed solid-state supercapacitor using activated carbon derived from waste material. In the context of sustainable development of supercapacitors, the work described here represents a significant technological advance.