Printable Supercapacitors Might Be The Answer To Smart Clothing

Smart printable devices that you wear on your person might not be a far fetched idea after all. Researchers from the Wuhan University and Hunan University have provided a review in the Applied Physics Reviews, by AIP Publishing explaining the feasibility of such technology.

The team provided a review of printed flexible supercapacitors in terms of their ability to formulate functional inks, design printable electrodes, and integrate functions with other electronic devices. FSCs have high power density and fast charge and discharge rates. And it’s one of several flexible energy storage devices being studied.

Printed FSCs are created by printing the functional links on traditional organic and inorganic electrode materials on flexible substrates. And because the devices can be bent, stretched or twisted to a certain degree without loss of electrochemical function, they can be used for various applications.

“We can imagine that in the future, we can use any printer in our lives and can print a supercapacitor to charge a mobile phone or smart wristband at any time,” said author Wu Wei.

Credit: Wei Wu’s group

FSCs can be fabricated through the use of various printing techniques including screen printing, inkjet printing, and 3D printing. Researchers found that when it comes to creating printable ink, the formulation needs to be done correctly. This means that it should include fewer ineffective additives, better conductive binders, and excellent dispersion electrode materials.

They also say that the ink should have a suitable viscosity and a good rheology property. This is needed to create prints that adhere to the necessary quality standards. Materials like graphene and pseudocapacitive materials are supposed to be good components for printing supercapacitors.

The inherent advantages of printable electronics which includes lower costs and flexibility, means it is suited for manufacturing solar cells, flexible OLED displays, transistors and RFID tags. That isn’t all, the tech could also pave the way for better tech which include smart textiles, intelligent packaging, and smart labels.