Laser cutting assisted fabrication of assembled solid-state supercapacitors based on polypyrrole coated paper

• Published in: Journal of electroanalytical chemistry (Lausanne, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2022-08, Vol.919, p.116522, Article 116522
• Main Authors: Zhang, Ruirong, Cai, Sheng, Wu, Qi, Zhu, Yao, Yin, Xu, Xu, Yanmeng, Yang, Yang, Chang, Honglong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arrays; Capacitance; Computer storage devices; Electrodes; Energy storage; Flexible; Laser beam cutting; Laser cutting; Light emitting diodes; Paper-based supercapacitor; Polypyrroles; Polyvinyl alcohol; Portable equipment; PPy/paper; Solid state; Supercapacitors
• ISSN: 1572-6657; 1873-2569
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jelechem.2022.116522

[Display omitted] •The PPy/paper was prepared through coating polypyrrole on the cellulose paper by interfacial polymerization.•The PPy/paper electrodes with desired shapes were manufactured easily by laser cutting.•A thin solid-state planar supercapacitor unit fabricated exhibited a capacity of 51.6 mF and a high specific areal capacitance of 12.9 mF cm−2.•The supercapacitor units can be assembled like Lego in parallel or in series to meet the voltage and energy requirements.•The supercapacitor array was integrated with a flexible printed circuit board, and it lighted up 3 LEDs even under bending conditions. In this work, a simple process has been demonstrated to fabricate solid-state paper-based supercapacitors. A highly conductive paper was prepared through coating polypyrrole on cellulose paper by interfacial polymerization. Among the PPy/paper samples prepared using different Py concentrations of 0.5%, 1.0%, 2.0% and 2.5%, PPy/paper (1.0% Py) displayed the highest specific capacitance (247.4F/g at 0.01 V s−1) and a good flexibility: the conductivity could retain near the original value even after being bent 450 times. Then, the PPy/paper (1.0% Py) electrodes with desired shapes were manufactured easily by laser cutting. A thin solid-state planar supercapacitor unit was fabricated by assembling the two PPy/paper electrodes and polyvinyl alcohol/H3PO4 electrolyte, and it exhibited a capacity of 51.6 mF and a high areal specific capacitance of 12.9 mF cm−2. Furthermore, 8 supercapacitor units were connected in series and parallel to obtain a thin supercapacitor array generating a higher output voltage and capacity. The supercapacitor array was integrated with a flexible printed circuit board, and it lighted up 3 light-emitting diodes, even under bending conditions. This method can be used to scale up the fabrication of flexible integrated paper-based energy storage devices for various portable and wearable electronics.