Effect of fiber morphology on the capacitance of stretchable supercapacitors based on silver nanowire‐polyurethane hollow fibers
Aparajita Pal, Kiran Yadav, Manjeet Jassal, Ashwini K. Agrawal
Abstract
Stretchable supercapacitors were fabricated using silver nanowire-polyurethane (AgNW-PU) hollow fibers. The stretchable AgNW-PU hollow fibers were produced in a single step using a modified dry-jet-wet spinning process, wherein the inside of the hollow fibers was in situ coated with a thin highly conducting layer of AgNWs. The as-spun hollow fibers were assembled parallelly to create supercapacitor devices. The fiber wall morphologies, such as fiber diameter, wall thickness, and porosity, were altered and observed to have a dominant role in the capacitance of the device. The engineered hollow fibers could result in a specific capacitance of 38 F/g. The devices were found to have good mechanical and electrochemical stability to repeated deformation cycles of 20% strain. This has been attributed to the unique three-layered structure of AgNWs deposited in the inner wall of the hollow fiber electrode. These stretchable and conductive supercapacitor assemblies may be of great interest for the wearable and stretchable electronics.