Fabrication of all-solid-state textile supercapacitors based on industrial-grade multi-walled carbon nanotubes for enhanced energy storage

• Published in: Journal of materials science 2020-08, Vol.55 (23), p.10121-10141
• Main Authors: Costa, Rui S., Guedes, Alexandra, Pereira, André M., Pereira, Clara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Capacitors; Carbon; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Coated electrodes; Coatings; Cotton; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Electric properties; Electrodes; Electronic devices; Energy management systems; Energy Materials; Energy storage; Flux density; Materials Science; Multi wall carbon nanotubes; Nanotubes; Polyelectrolytes; Polymer Sciences; Solid Mechanics; Solid state; Supercapacitors
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-020-04709-0

Textile supercapacitors (TESCs) are an emerging energy storage solution to power smart gadgets integrated on clothes. Herein, efficient solid-state TESCs with different active areas (2–8 cm 2 ) were produced based on cotton fabrics coated with industrial grade multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as electrodes and a safe polyelectrolyte. The textile electrodes were fabricated by an optimized eco-friendly scalable dip-pad-dry process. The lowest electrical resistance (2.62 Ω cm −2 ) and most uniform coating of the electrodes were achieved using 10 mg mL −1 CNTs dispersion and 8 dip-pad-dry steps. The TESCs exhibited a specific capacitance of 8.01 F g −1 (9.18 F cm −2 ) and high cyclability (5000 cycles). The energy and power densities were tuned by changing the electrode area: the largest TESC presented the highest energy density of 6.30 Wh kg −1 , which was 14× higher than those of other EDLC-type carbon-based TESCs reported in the literature; the smallest TESC presented the highest power density of 2.72 kW kg −1 , being 49× higher than the values reported for comparable systems. Finally, a sensor was powered for 47 min by coupling two TESCs in series (14 cm 2 ). This work demonstrated the ability to produce efficient TESCs using industrial grade MWCNTs by processes implemented in the Textile Industry, boosting technological transfer for high-tech applications.