Flexible solid-state supercapacitors: design, fabrication and applications

Increasing power and energy demands for next-generation portable and flexible electronics such as roll-up displays, photovoltaic cells, and wearable devices have stimulated intensive efforts to explore flexible, lightweight and environmentally friendly energy storage devices. Flexible solid-state supercapacitors (SCs) have attracted increasing interest because they can provide substantially higher specific/volumetric energy density compared to conventional capacitors. Additionally, flexible solid-state SCs are typically small in size, highly reliable, light-weight, easy to handle, and have a wide range of operation temperatures. In this regard, solid-state SCs hold great promise as new energy storage devices for flexible and wearable electronics. In this article, we review recent achievements in the design, fabrication and characterization of flexible solid-state SCs. Moreover, we also discuss the current challenges and future opportunities for the development of high-performance flexible solid-state SCs.