Abstract
The energy challenge requires a broad range of options for energy harvesting, storage, and conversion. We have produced polymeric coatings by spraying, to be used as electrolyte and electrodes in a flexible electrochemical double layer capacitor. A thermoplastic polyurethane and a low molecular weight block copolyether were employed with LiClO4 to prepare solid polymeric electrolytes. Carbon black (CB) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were dispersed in the polymer blend electrolyte to produce nanostructured composite electrodes. The conductivities increased with the addition of block copolyether and carbon nanotubes to the electrolyte and electrode, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) images of the nanocomposite electrodes showed nanoagglomerates of CB connected by carbon nanotubes. The solid supercapacitor prepared with these new materials as electrolyte and electrodes showed superior performance to other similar systems. The resulting safe and flexible multilayer device can meet the requirements of modern devices.
![](http://media.springernature.com/lw685/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs12274-009-9080-1/MediaObjects/12274_2009_9080_Fig1_HTML.jpg)
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Conway, B. E. Electrochemical Supercapacitors. Kluwer-Academic/Plenum: New York, 1999.
Kotz, R.; Carlen, M. Principles and applications of electrochemical capacitors. Electrochim. Acta 2000, 45, 2483–2498.
Pandolfo, A. G.; Hollenkamp, A. F. Carbon properties and their role in supercapacitors. J. Power Sources 2006, 157, 11–27.
Frackowiak, E.; Beguin, F. Carbon materials for the electrochemical storage of energy in capacitors. Carbon 2001, 39, 937–950.
Frackowiak, E.; Delpeux, S.; Jurewicz, K.; Szostak, K.; Cazorla-Amoros, D.; Beguin, F. Enhanced capacitance of carbon nanotubes through chemical activation. Chem. Phys. Lett. 2002, 361, 35–41.
Emmenegger, C.; Mauron, P.; Sudan, P.; Wenger, P.; Hermann, V.; Gallay, R.; Zuettel, A. Investigation of electrochemical double-layer (ECDL) capacitors electrodes based on carbon nanotubes and activated carbon materials. J. Power Sources 2003, 124, 321–329.
Niu, J. J.; Pell, W. G.; Conway B. E. Requirements for performance characterization of C double-layer supercapacitors: Applications to a high specific-area C-cloth material. J. Power Sources 2006, 156, 725–740.
Xu, B.; Wu, F.; Chen, R. J.; Cao, G. P.; Chen, S.; Wang, G. Q.; Yang, Y. S. Room temperature molten salt as electrolyte for carbon nanotube-based electric double layer capacitors. J. Power Sources 2006, 158, 773–778.
Liu, H. T.; Zhu, G. Y. The electrochemical capacitance of nanoporous carbons in aqueous and ionic liquids. J. Power Sources 2007, 171, 1054–1061.
Pushparaj, V. L.; Shaijumon, M. M.; Kumar, A.; Murugesan, S.; Ci, L.; Vajtai, R.; Linhardt, R. J.; Nalamasu, O.; Ajayan, P. M. Flexible energy storage devices based on nanocomposite paper. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2007, 104, 13574–13577.
Staiti, P.; Minutoli, M.; Lufrano, F. All solid electric double layer capacitors based on Nafion ionomer. Electrochim. Acta 2002, 47, 2795–2800.
Arico, A. S.; Bruce, P.; Scrosati, B.; Tarascon, J. M.; van Schalkwijk, W. Nanostructured materials for advanced energy conversion and storage devices. Nat. Mater. 2005, 4, 366–377.
Pernaut, J. M.; Goulart, G. Electrochemical capacitor using polymer carbon composites. J. Power Sources 1995, 55, 93–96.
Hashmi, S. A.; Latham, R. J.; Linford, R. G.; Schlindwein, W. S. Studies on all solid state electric double layer capacitors using proton and lithium ion conducting polymer electrolytes. J. Chem. Soc. Farad. Trans. 1997, 93, 4177–4182.
Gu, H. B.; Kim, J. U.; Song, H. W.; Park, G. C.; Park, B. K. Electrochemical properties of carbon composite electrode with polymer electrolyte for electric double-layer capacitor. Electrochim. Acta 2000, 45, 1533–1536.
Lavall, R. L.; Borges, R. S.; Calado, H. D. R.; Welter, C.; Trigueiro, J. P. C.; Rieumont, J.; Neves, B. R. A.; Silva, G. G. Solid state double layer capacitor based on a polyether polymer electrolyte blend and nanostructured carbon black electrode composites. J. Power Sources 2008, 177, 652–659.
Gauthier, M.; Belanger, A.; Bouchard, P.; Kapfer, B.; Ricard, S.; Vassort, G; Armand, A.; Sanchez, J. Y.; Krause, L. Large lithium polymer battery development—The immobile solvent concept. J. Power Sources 1995, 54, 163–169.
Huang, J. C. Carbon black filled conducting polymers and polymer blends. Adv. Polym. Technol. 2002, 21, 299–313.
Dresselhaus, M. S.; Avouris, P. Introduction to carbon materials research. Top. Appl. Phys. 2001, 80, 1–9.
Niu, C. M.; Sichel, E. K.; Hoch, R.; Moy, D.; Tennent, H. High power electrochemical capacitors based on carbon nanotube electrodes. Appl. Phys. Lett. 1997, 70, 1480–1482.
Du, C. S.; Yeh, J.; Pan, N. High power density supercapacitors using locally aligned carbon nanotube electrodes. Nanotechnology 2005, 16, 350–353.
Futaba, D. N.; Hata, K.; Yamada, T.; Hiraoka, T.; Hayamizu, Y.; Kakudate, Y.; Tanaike, O.; Hatori, H.; Yumura, M.; Iijima, S. Shape-engineerable and highly densely packed single-walled carbon nanotubes and their application as super-capacitor electrodes. Nat. Mater. 2006, 5, 987–994.
Zhang, H.; Cao, G. P.; Yang, Y. S. Electrochemical properties of ultra-long, aligned, carbon nanotube array electrode in organic electrolyte. J. Power Sources 2007, 172, 476–480.
dos Santos, A. S.; Leite, T. D. N.; Furtado, C. A.; Welter, C.; Pardini, L. C.; Silva G. G. Morphology, thermal expansion, and electrical conductivity of multiwalled carbon nanotube/epoxy composites. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2008, 108, 979–986.
Trigueiro, J. P. C.; Silva, G. G.; Lavall, R. L.; Furtado, C. A.; Oliveira, S.; Ferlauto, A.S.; Lacerda, R. G.; Ladeira, L. O.; Liu, J. W.; Frost, R. L.; George, G. A. Purity evaluation of carbon nanotube materials by thermogravimetric, TEM, and SEM methods. J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 2007, 7, 3477–3486.
Arepalli, S.; Nikolaev, P.; Gorelik, O.; Hadjiev, V. G.; Bradlev, H. A.; Holmes, W.; Files, B.; Yowell, L. Protocol for the characterization of single-wall carbon nanotube material quality. Carbon 2004, 42, 1783–1791.
Bassi, M.; Tonelli, C.; di Meo, A. Glass transition behavior of a microphase segregated polyurethane based on PFPE and IPDI. A calorimetric study. Macromolecules 2003, 36, 8015–8023.
Machado, J. C.; Silva, G. G.; de Oliveira, F. C.; Lavall, R. L.; Rieumont, J.; Licin, P.; Windmoller, D. Free-volume and crystallinity ion low molecular weight poly(ethylene oxide). J. Polym. Sci. B: Polym. Phys. 2007, 45, 2400–2409.
Chatterjee, T.; Krishnamoorti, R. Dynamic consequences of the fractal network of nanotube-poly(ethylene oxide) nanocomposites. Phys. Rev. E 2007, 75, 050403.
Munson-McGee, S. H. Estimation of the critical concentration in an anisotropic percolation network. Phys. Rev. B 1991, 43, 3331–3336.
Furtado, C. A.; de Souza, P. P.; Silva, G. G.; Matencio, T.; Pernaut, J. M. Electrochemical behavior of polyurethane ether electrolytes/carbon black composites and application to double layer capacitor. Electrochim. Acta 2001, 46, 1629–1634.
Endo, M.; Kim, Y. J.; Chino, T.; Shinya, O.; Matsuzawa, Y.; Suezaki H.; Tantrakarn, K.; Dresselhaus, M. S. High-performance electric double-layer capacitors using mass-produced multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Appl. Phys. A: Mater. Sci. Process. 2006, 82, 559–565.
Costa, L. T.; Lavall, R. L.; Borges, R. S.; Rieumont, J.; Silva, G. G.; Ribeiro, M. C. Polymer electrolytes based on poly(ethylene glycol) dimethyl ether and the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate: Preparation, physico-chemical characterization, and theoretical study. Electrochim. Acta 2007, 53, 1568–1574.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0 ), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
Trigueiro, J.P.C., Borges, R.S., Lavall, R.L. et al. Polymeric nanomaterials as electrolyte and electrodes in supercapacitors. Nano Res. 2, 733–739 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-009-9080-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-009-9080-1