Supercapacitors are of great interests for energy storage due to their high-power densities and tolerance against high rate charging and discharging. Meanwhile, there have been growing efforts to create free-standing, flexible, and foldable energy storage electrodes for wearable electronic devices, roll-up displays, and portable gadgets. Challenges remain on how to produce such electrodes with high energy and power densities yet highly flexible in a controlled, scalable process. Here, I present two promising materials systems, 1) interpenetrating networks of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) aerogel, conducting polymer nano-ribbons, and cellulose fibers, and 2) Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub> (MXene) nanoflakes and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) assembled layer-by-layer on electrospun polymer fiber networks, as flexible and high performance supercapacitor electrodes. In particular, hybrids from MXene that consists of early transition metal carbides and carbonitrides in the form of two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets have shown excellent capacitance at a high scan rate and improved rate performance. These composite electrodes show good tolerance against mechanical deformations such as stretching, twisting, and folding.

Flexible, foldable polymer composites for energy storage

254th National Meeting (2017)

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