Possibility of large-scale patterning of a printed circuit board to produce copper oxide nanowire all-solid-state micro-supercapacitors array with high specific capacity

Micro-supercapacitors, as micro-scale energy storage units, are envisaged to provide the necessary power to miniaturized electronics. Here we report, copper oxide nanowire micro-supercapacitors, developed on a printed circuit board (PCB), following a facile pattern transfer and electrochemical forming protocol. In this way, a PCB can be patterned into a largescale interdigital electrode array, on which copper oxide nanowires can be grown electrochemically in a single step. The copper oxide nanowires micro-supercapacitor demonstrated a maximum areal capacitance of 257 mF cm(-2) (659 mF cm(-2) in aqueous KOH solution), maximum energy density 35 mu Wh cm(-2) and power density 5.2 mW cm(-2) in the solid-state PVA-H2SO4 gel electrolyte. The significant performance parameters showed the potential of direct patterning of PCB to nanostructure microelectrodes on a large scale for micro-supercapacitor application and its potential to fulfill the power requirement of microelectronics devices.

Automated summary

This study reports the development of copper oxide nanowire micro-supercapacitors on a printed circuit board (PCB) using a simple pattern transfer and electrochemical forming protocol, with impressive performance parameters in a solid-state PVA-H2SO4 gel electrolyte. The results demonstrate the potential of directly patterning PCBs on a large scale into nanostructured microelectrodes for micro-supercapacitor applications and meeting the power requirements of microelectronic devices.