Stretchable reduced graphene oxide/carbon nanotube fabric composite for wearable supercapacitor application

Abstract

This paper demonstrates a flexible and stretchable supercapacitor assembled via interfacial gelation of graphene oxide/carbon nanotube (CNT) composite on polyester/polyurethane fabric surface. The difference between the redox potential of aqueous graphene oxide dispersion, prepared using modified Hummer’s method, and of solid Zn plate, which was used as external stimulus, induces spontaneous gelation of porous reduced graphene oxide (rGO) hydrogel at the liquid-solid interface. With the aid of Zn, macroporous and flexible rGO/CNT hydrogel was fabricated on stretchable fabric platform using facile fabrication method. The porous structure of the as-formed rGO/CNT coated fabric composite allows excellent electrolyte transport that result in fast charging/discharging rate and large areal capacity. In addition, the 1-dimensional structure of CNT enhances the conductivity retention of the composite by providing conductive bridges that ensure electrical contact even at applied strain as high as 50%, overcoming previous limitations of brittle graphene-based electrodes. The rGO/CNT fabric composite was assembled into a supercapacitor using simple assembling process to demonstrate its feasibility as stretchable supercapacitor electrode. This low cost, lightweight, easy to synthesize, stretchable supercapacitor holds promise for next generation wearable electronics and energy storage applications.