Weavable asymmetric carbon nanotube yarn supercapacitor for electronic textiles

Abstract

Asymmetric supercapacitors are receiving much research interests due to their wide operating potential window and high energy density. In this study, we report the fabrication of asymmetrically configured yarn based supercapacitor by using liquid-state biscrolling technology. High loading amounts of reduced graphene oxide anode guest (90.1 wt%) and MnO2 cathode guest (70 wt%) materials were successfully embedded into carbon nanotube yarn host electrodes. The resulting asymmetric yarn supercapacitor coated by gel based organic electrolyte (PVDF-HFP-TEA·BF4) exhibited wider potential window (up to 3.5 V) and resulting high energy density (43 μW h cm-2). Moreover, the yarn electrodes were mechanically strong enough to be woven into commercial textiles. The textile supercapacitor exhibited stable electrochemical energy storage performances during dynamically applied deformations. © 2018 The Royal Society of Chemistry.