Wood‐Derived Lightweight and Elastic Carbon Aerogel for Pressure Sensing and Energy Storage

• Published in: Advanced functional materials 2020-04, Vol.30 (17), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Chen, Zehong, Zhuo, Hao, Hu, Yijie, Lai, Haihong, Liu, Linxiang, Zhong, Linxin, Peng, Xinwen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerogels; Carbon; carbon aerogels; cellulose nanofibers; Compressibility; Elastic deformation; Electrochemical analysis; Electronic devices; Energy storage; Fatigue strength; Lightweight; Lignin; Materials science; Mechanical properties; Nanofibers; Pressure sensors; Raw materials; Renewable resources; Stiffness; Strain; Thermal stability; Wearable technology
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201910292

Lightweight and elastic carbon materials have attracted great interest in pressure sensing and energy storage for wearable devices and electronic skins. Wood is the most abundant renewable resource and offers green and sustainable raw materials for fabricating lightweight carbon materials. Herein, a facile and sustainable strategy is proposed to fabricate a wood‐derived elastic carbon aerogel with tracheid‐like texture from cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) and lignin. The flexible CNFs entangle and assemble into an interconnected framework, while lignin with high thermal stability and favorable stiffness prevents the framework from severe structural shrinkage during annealing. This strategy leads to an ordered tracheid‐like structure and significantly reduces the thermal deformation of the CNFs network, producing a lightweight and elastic carbon aerogel. The wood‐derived carbon aerogel exhibits excellent mechanical performance, including high compressibility (up to 95% strain) and fatigue resistance. It also reveals high sensitivity at a wide working pressure range of 0–16.89 kPa and can detect human biosignals accurately. Moreover, the carbon aerogel can be assembled into a flexible and free‐standing all‐solid‐state symmetric supercapacitor that reveals satisfactory electrochemical performance and mechanical flexibility. These features make the wood‐derived carbon aerogel highly attractive for pressure sensor and flexible electrode applications. An elastic carbon aerogel with an ordered tracheid‐like structure is fabricated from wood‐derived cellulose nanofibers and lignin by rationally designing the architecture and reducing the thermal degradation of the aerogel network. The resultant aerogel exhibits excellent mechanical performance, high sensitivity, and can be assembled into a flexible supercapacitor with satisfied electrochemical performance and flexibility.