Biohydrogel from unsaturated polyesteramide: Synthesis, properties and utilization as electrolytic medium for electrochemical supercapacitors

Electrical and Capacitive Response of Hydrogel Solid-Like Electrolytes for Supercapacitors

“…The synthesis of the four studied hydrogels has already been reported [ 28 , 34 , 35 , 36 ] and, therefore, a brief description of the employed procedures is only provided.…”

“…The synthesis of the di- p -toluenesulfonic acid salt of L-phenylalanine butene 1,4-diester and di- p -nitrophenyl fumarate monomers, as well as their polycondensation to produce UPEA chains with C=C double bonds in the backbone, were conducted using the procedure described by Katsarava and co-workers [ 37 ]. Functionalized polyethylene glycol, which was used as crosslinker, was prepared using triethylamine and acryloil chloride, as reported in recent work [ 28 ]. Then, a 1:4 UPEA:crosslinker ( w / w ) mixture was dissolved in dimethylacetamide for the reticulation reaction, which was conducted by adding the photoinitiator irgacure 2959 (5% wt.)…”

“…Although currently, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based gels are the most widely used electrolytes for solid-state supercapacitors, [ 1 , 18 ] biopolymer-derived systems are gaining increasing attention. For example, polysaccharides, [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ] proteins and polypeptides, [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ] and even synthetic polymers incorporating biological units, such as polyesteramides, [ 28 , 29 ] have been used to prepare hydrogels as solid-like electrolytes for manufacturing bioinspired supercapacitors. Indeed, their electrochemical response has been well studied by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge cycles; [ 1 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ] however, their ionic conductivity and capacitive properties remain unknown in many cases.…”

Doped photo-crosslinked polyesteramide hydrogels as solid electrolytes for supercapacitors

“…19,20 However, in recent years the utilization of hydrogels based on biopolymers from biomass and/or synthetic biopolymers based on natural constituents is gaining more attention. [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] These bio-based solid electrolytes exhibit important advantages, for instance renewability, earth abundancy, lowcost, biodegradability, biocompatibility and/or environmental friendless. Thus, fabrication of bio-based electrolytes contributes to reduce not only the resource consumption but also the enormous electronic garbage after their service lifetime.…”

“…In the last few years we have been interested in the development of solid electrolytes for ESCs based on natural polysaccharides, such as -carrageenan 31,32 and cellulose, 33 and on synthetic biopolymers, as for example poly-γ-glutamic acid 34 and phenylalanine-containing unsaturated polyesteramides (UPEAs). 35 Interestingly, a photo-crosslinked UPEA hydrogel containing phenylalanine, butenediol and fumarate as building blocks and doped with NaCl 4 (UPEA-Phe/NaCl), exhibited better behavior as supporting electrolyte than biohydrogels derived from polysaccharides and polypeptides doped with same salt, without any detriment in the biodegradability and biocompatibility. 35 Studies on polysaccharides and polypeptides showed that the performance of biohydrogels as solid electrolytes is known to depend on the porous structure.…”