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Regenerated hydrogel electrolyte towards an all-gel supercapacitor

可再生水凝胶电解质用于全凝胶超级电容器

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Abstract

Electrolyte regeneration is an important goal for environmental protection and sustainable development efforts. Herein, we report a facile strategy inspired by the transformation of edible dough from flour to regenerate hydrogel electrolytes from their dehydrated copolymer granules (CGs) via direct addition of water or salt solution. With the aid of heating, this procedure is efficient, relatively quick, and easily implemented. The dehydrated CGs are lightweight, reusable and stable under long-term storage. Even after 5 cycles of dehydration and regeneration, the regeneration efficiency of the hydrogel electrolytes, as evaluated based on retention of mechanical strength, is over 60%. The regenerated electrolytes possess considerable ionic conductivity, reprocessability, and 3D-printability. Furthermore, an all-gel supercapacitor assembled from the regenerated hydrogel electrolyte and activated carbon electrode with CGs as binder demonstrates excellent interfacial compatibility. The assembled all-gel supercapacitor can maintain 98.7% of its original specific capacitance after 100 bending tests, and can operate in a wide temperature range spanning from −15 to 60°C. This work may provide a new access to the development of renewable materials for various applications in the fields of intelligent devices, wearable electronics and soft robotics.

摘要

再生电解质对环境保护和可持续发展具有重要意义. 受面粉加 水成面团的启发, 本工作提出一种简单、快速制备凝胶电解质的策略, 该再生水凝胶电解质可以通过向其脱水的共聚物颗粒中加入水或盐溶 液, 经过混合、加热即可获得. 脱水的共聚物颗粒质量小、性质稳定、 可长期储存和多次循环使用. 经过5次脱水-再生的循环后, 凝胶电解质 的力学强度仍保持60%以上. 该再生凝胶电解质具有高离子电导, 可再 加工, 并可用于3D打印. 同时以凝胶共聚物颗粒为粘合剂的活性炭电 极、再生凝胶为电解质组装的全凝胶超级电容器具有极佳的界面相容 性, 在100次弯曲试验后仍能保持98.7%的比电容, 并可在−15至60°C的 宽温度范围内工作. 这项工作为可再生材料的制备及其应用提供了新 的途径.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFC1803100 and 2016YFA0100800), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51873156).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Xian He  (何弦), Dongbei Wu  (乌东北), Yinghui Shang  (尚英辉), Hongdou Shen  (沈红豆), Songyan Xi  (奚松延), Xia Wang  (王霞), Wenjun Li  (李汶军) & Qigang Wang  (王启刚)

Authors
  1. Xian He  (何弦)
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  2. Dongbei Wu  (乌东北)
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  3. Yinghui Shang  (尚英辉)
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  4. Hongdou Shen  (沈红豆)
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  5. Songyan Xi  (奚松延)
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  6. Xia Wang  (王霞)
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  7. Wenjun Li  (李汶军)
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  8. Qigang Wang  (王启刚)
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Contributions

He X, Wu D and Wang Q designed the studies and prepared the manuscript. He X carried out most of the experiments including the preparation and characterization of the material, manufacturing and electrochemical measurement of the energy storage devices. Wu D and He X wrote the original draft. Wang Q, Wang X and Li W revised the draft elaborately. Shang Y made supporting contribution in the electrochemical measurement. Shen H and Xi S made supporting contribution in the material characterization. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Dongbei Wu  (乌东北) or Qigang Wang  (王启刚).

Additional information

Xian He is a master student at the School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University. She received her BE degree from Donghua University. Her research interest focuses on hydrogel electrolytes and flexible supercapacitors.

Dongbei Wu is an associate professor at the School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University. She received her PhD degree from Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005. Her research interest focuses on hydrogel electrolytes and flexible supercapacitors.

Qigang Wang is currently a professor at the School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University. He received his PhD degree from Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005. He was the postdoctor of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo and Riken in 2005–2011. His research interest focuses on enzymatic polymerized methodology and hydrogel electrolyte design for flexible electronics/bioelectronics.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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He, X., Wu, D., Shang, Y. et al. Regenerated hydrogel electrolyte towards an all-gel supercapacitor. Sci. China Mater. 65, 115–123 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-021-1712-y

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