Fabrication of reduced graphene oxide/manganese oxide ink for 3D-printing technology on the application of high-performance supercapacitors

Abstract

The low energy density of supercapacitors currently limits their widespread applicability. With the development of 3D printing technology in the field of energy storage, fine electrode structures can be designed to overcome this limitation. This paper reports an ink consisting of a-MnO 2 nanorods, reduced graphene oxide, and pluronic F127 and employed it for the extrusion-based 3D printing of supercapacitor electrodes. The 3D-printed 1-layer electrode achieved a mass-specific capacitance of 422 F g -1 at a current density of 0.1 A g -1 , and the as-prepared full-cell supercapacitor based on such electrode, its energy density reached 19.35 Wh kg -1 , corresponding to a power density of 50 W kg -1 . The extrusion 3D printing method also allows for the fabrication of multiple electrode layers, and the 3D-printed electrodes were demonstrated as capable of practical applications such as powering LEDs and charging a mobile phone. The proposed 3D printing technology for preparing supercapacitors can quickly and economically prepare supercapacitors with special structures in large quantities, providing a method for large-scale applications of supercapacitors, and also provides some inspiration for the structure of other energy storage devices such as ion batteries.

Advanced manufacturing approaches for electrochemical energy storage devices

“…Following the establishment of DIW of carbonaceous materials for EDLC-type supercapacitors, further advancements in achievable capacitance have been demonstrated via the implementation of pseudocapacitive additives (Table S4). GO and graphene-based electrodes have been decorated by a number of pseudocapacitive materials to boost performance, including conductive polymers [105,110] and transition metal oxides and sulfides [106,107,109,128]. One of the highest areal capacitances reported to date of 18,740 mF cm −2 at 1 mA cm −2 was reported by Yao et al for graphene aerogel/MnO 2 electrodes prepared via DIW [108].…”

“…However, if employed in asymmetric supercapacitors, which could increase the device's overall voltage and energy density, the high electrode density and fraction of active material make MXenes a promising future research direction. Voltage window limitations are not exclusive to MXene-based reports – while a few recent reports have employed ionic liquids with wide voltage windows (3.5 V) in their final device design [128,129], nearly all literature to date employs aqueous liquid or gel electrolytes, severely limiting the achievable energy density (Figure 13(c)). While aqueous PVA gel-based electrolytes have been most widely employed due to their ease of use with open-cell architectures, such as interdigitated designs, there is a need across the field to move to electrolytes with wider voltage windows.…”

3D Printed Supercapacitor: Techniques, Materials, Designs, and Applications

“…Reproduced with permission. [ 96 ] Copyright 2021, Springer Nature. c) Preparation of PANI/GO inks and fabrication of PANI/rGO workpiece.…”

“…Among transition metal oxides, manganese oxide (MnO 2 ) motivates a widespread concern for the high theoretical specific capacitance, simple preparation, and low cost. For instance, Yang et al [96] used α-MnO 2 nanorods, rGO, and ethylene oxide-propylene oxide symmetrical triblock copolymer pluronic F127 composite materials to prepare the inks for electrodes (Figure 4b). Among them, pseudocapacitive MnO 2 can improve the energy storage characteristics, while the combination of 2D rGO and 1D α-MnO 2 nanorods facilitates electron transfer and enables the redox reaction more efficient.…”