Fully screen printed highly conductive electrodes on various flexible substrates for asymmetric supercapacitors

Abstract

Highly flexible conductive electrodes were prepared by screen printing a commercial carbon nanoparticle ink onto various substrates such as clothes, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and paper. The flexible electrodes showed good stability during the bending test and could act as a foldable electric circuit. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes–manganese dioxide (MWCNTs–MnO₂) anodes and multi-walled carbon nanotubes–molybdenum trioxide (MWCNTs–MoO₃) cathodes for asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs) were screen printed onto carbon nanoparticle electrodes, which acted as a collector. The fully screen printed supercapacitor has a wide operating potential window of 1.7 V and exhibits excellent electrochemical performance, e.g. a high energy density of 11.04 mW h cm⁻³ at a power density of 614.6 mW cm⁻³, a high retention ratio of ∼91.3% of its initial capacitance after 5000 cycles. The screen-printing acting as a simple, versatile, fast, and cost-effective printing method can be fully integrated with the fabrication process in current printed electronics and has potential applications for energy storage.