Stretchable Superhydrophobic Supercapacitor with Excellent Self-Healing Ability
Peng Wang, Zinan Wang, Ximin Zhang, Yongli Liao, Wei Duan, Ying Yue, Yuning Zhang
Abstract
Flexible supercapacitors have attracted widespread attention due to the rapid development of wearable electronics. Nevertheless, most supercapacitors will degrade after being stretched and cannot work underwater. Here, a new kind of stretchable superhydrophobic supercapacitor was proposed. On the basis of the freeze–thaw treatment of PVA hydrogel, carrageenan and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were further introduced to construct a triple network hydrogel that achieved self-healing, high elasticity, and stretchability simultaneously. Then, hydrophobic modified CNTs and NiO/CoO nanoparticles were sprayed onto the surface of the hydrogel to construct electrodes. The energy storage performance was improved by combining pseudocapacitive (CoO and NiO) and electric double-layer capacitive (MWCNT) behaviors. The superhydrophobic supercapacitor has excellent flexibility, self-healing, and self-cleaning properties. Furthermore, it can maintain superhydrophobic and good energy storage performance even after being stretched 400%, abraded 65 cycles, and cut 20 times. Owing to superhydrophobicity, this supercapacitor would have a bright application for underwater workings.