Toward Flexible Polymer and Paper‐Based Energy Storage Devices

Abstract

All-polymer and paper-based energy storage devices have significant inherent advantages in comparison with many currently employed batteries and supercapacitors regarding environmental friendliness, flexibility, cost and versatility. The research within this field is currently undergoing an exciting development as new polymers, composites and paper-based devices are being developed. In this report, we review recent progress concerning the development of flexible energy storage devices based on electronically conducting polymers and cellulose containing composites with particular emphasis on paper-based batteries and supercapacitors. We discuss recent progress in the development of the most commonly used electronically conducting polymers used in flexible device prototypes, the advantages and disadvantages of this type of energy storage devices, as well as the two main approaches used in the manufacturing of paper-based charge storage devices.

Porous Ionic Membrane Based Flexible Humidity Sensor and its Multifunctional Applications

“…As shown in Figure S2c,d in the Supporting Information, the PIM‐based sensor responded very fast to (about 0.4 s), and recovered quickly after (about 2.6 s), sudden changes in the RH between 47.25% and 80.34% (the ambient RH value was about 47.25%). The response and recovery times are much faster than those previously reported humidity sensors based on other nanomaterials, such as graphene oxide and commercialized humidity sensors 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. We can therefore conclude that the polymer electrolyte film serves as a highly conductive electrical pathway that enables rapid migration of electrons and a fast response time, similar to its role in the field of all‐solid‐state flexible supercapacitors.…”

“…This may be the reason why the recovery time (2.6 s) of the PIM‐based sensor is rather slower than the response time (0.4 s). Moreover, above unique temperature and pressure insensitive behaviors can be attributed to the electric variation of this membrane mainly based on the migration of its internal conductive ion, which can be stabilized in the polymer mixture and scarcely transferred by the external temperature and pressure change 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 41…”

“…Porous film structure can boost the penetration and diffusion of moisture, and the homogeneous resistance distribution can enhance the transfer of protons through an uniform pattern 24, 25, 26. Here, we developed a flexible and 3D porous ionic membrane (PIM) based high performance flexible humidity sensor.…”

Nanostructured conductive polymers for advanced energy storage

“…Traditional synthetic routes for CPHs include polymerization of conductive polymer monomers using multivalent metal ions or polymers in non-conducive hydrogel matrix which serve as templates. 7 A typical procedure could be found in the review paper written by Yu et al 10 Another approach is to fabricate conductive polymer hydrogels through copolymerization of conductive polymer monomers with non-conductive hydrogel monomers.…”

“…Different conductive polymers show quite different energy densities and power densities due to their chemical structures and physical properties For example, PPy-based electrodes exhibit energy densities of B10-50 W h kg À1 and power densities of 5-25 kW kg À1 ; PANI-based electrodes exhibit energy densities of 50-200 W h kg À1 and power densities of 5-50 kW kg À1 ; PTh-based electrodes exhibit energy densities of 20-100 W h kg À1 and power densities of 5-50 kW kg À1 . 10 Conductive polymers show several advantages, such as good processibility, low cost, convenient molecular modification, and light weight when applied as electrodes. However, poor stability during cycling and low conductivity in reduced state inhibit their further applications in lithium-ion batteries.…”