Breakthrough in 3D-Printed Graphene Supercapacitors!
A recent breakthrough by the research team led by Dr. Wu Zhongshuai at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Professor Wu Mingbo’s team from China University of Petroleum (East China), has made significant progress in the field of 3D-printed graphene micro-supercapacitors. They developed high-quality, additive-free graphene ink specifically for 3D printing, resulting in micro-supercapacitors with high integration density, high output voltage, and high voltage density.
Graphene is known for its outstanding mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties, making it a promising material in areas such as flexible electronics, thermal management, and biomedical devices. However, existing 3D-printed graphene inks often rely on graphene oxide and various additives, which compromise the device’s conductivity, energy density, and increase manufacturing complexity and costs. This limits the commercial application of 3D-printed graphene inks.
The team used electrochemically exfoliated graphene, glycerol, and water to develop a cost-effective, robust, and environmentally friendly graphene ink free from polymer thickeners. The resulting micro-electrodes or devices are free from non-active materials, improving their performance in energy storage and other potential applications. By using EMIMBF4/PVDF-HFP ion gels as quasi-solid electrolytes, they enhanced the electrochemical performance of the 3D-printed micro-supercapacitors, achieving an area-specific capacitance of 4900 mF/cm², a volume-specific capacitance of 195.6 F/cm³, and a stable cycling performance at high voltages (3.5V) and high temperatures (100°C).
Moreover, the team successfully achieved high integration density and high output voltage in 3D-printed monolithically integrated micro-supercapacitors, paving the way for the practical use of these devices in advanced electronic applications.
This research, titled “Electrochemically Exfoliated Graphene Additive-Free Inks for 3D Printing Customizable Monolithic Integrated Micro-Supercapacitors on a Large Scale”, was published in Advanced Materials. The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the DICP Innovation Fund.
Link to the paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202313930