High-Performance Flexible Micro-Supercapacitors Printed on Textiles for Powering Wearable Electronics

Fabrication of flexible micro-supercapacitors (MSCs) on textiles as miniaturized power supplies for wearable electronics is still a great challenge. In this work, we proposed a facile protocol to fabricate MSCs directly on textiles by combining inkjet printing and extrusion printing. Benefiting from its multi-step printing strategy, the textile-based MSCs still maintain their unique porous electrode structure as well as rapid electron transferability. Compared with only extrusion printing, the MSCs with a multi-step printing strategy exhibit a remarkably enhanced electrochemical performance (8.8 mF cm(-2) @0.5 mA cm(-2), 1.0 mF cm(-2) @5 mF cm(-2)), an elongated cycle life (6000 times), and superior mechanical flexibility (2000 times @90 degrees). Moreover, benefiting from the digital printing capability, flexible MSCs in serials can be directly prepared and conveniently integrated with conductive textiles to support wearable electronics systems. This simple printing method would show extensive potential in the fabrication of energy-based devices and wearable functional electronics.

Automated summary

The study introduces a simple method for fabricating flexible micro-supercapacitors on textiles, which exhibit significantly enhanced electrochemical performance and elongated cycle life through a multi-step printing strategy, suitable for wearable electronic systems.