Wet-spinning assembly and in situ electrodeposition of carbon nanotube-based composite fibers for high energy density wire-shaped asymmetric supercapacitor

Wire-shaped supercapacitors (WSC) have attracted tremendous attention for powering portable electronic devices. However, previously reported WSC suffered from a complicated fabrication process and high cost. The objective of this study is to develop a facile and scalable process for the fabrication of high energy density WSC. We coupled the wet-spinning assembly with an in situ electrodeposition technique to prepare carbon nanotube (CNT)-based composite fibers. The charge balance between the electrodes was realized by controlling the deposition time of the pseudocapacitive materials. A wire-shaped asymmetric supercapacitor (WASC) was fabricated by twisting MnO2/CNT fiber cathode and PPy/CNT fiber anode with LiCl/PVA electrolyte. The flexible MnO2/CNT//PPy/CNT WASC operated in a broadened voltage range of 0-1.8 V exhibited a high capacitance of 17.5F cm(-3) (10.7F g(-1)). In addition, it delivered a maximum energy and power densities of 7.88 mWh cm(-3) (4.82 Wh kg(-1)) and 2.26 W cm(-3) (1382 W kg(-1)), respectively. The WASC device demonstrated satisfactory cycling stability with 86% capacitance retention, and its Coulombic efficiency remained at 96% after 5000 charge-discharge cycles. The contributions of the diffusion-controlled insertion and the surface capacitive effect were theoretically quantified to investigate the energy storage mechanism. The fabrication approaches hold potential for the construction of cost-effective and high-performance WSC. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.