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    Supramolecular Hydrogels for High-Voltage and Neutral-pH Flexible Supercapacitors
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    • Qing Chen
      Qing Chen
      CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, Anhui 230026, P.R. China
      More by Qing Chen
      Orcidhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-1828-7797
    • Han Lu
      Han Lu
      CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, Anhui 230026, P.R. China
      More by Han Lu
    • Fang Chen
      Fang Chen
      CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, Anhui 230026, P.R. China
      More by Fang Chen
    • Lili Chen
      Lili Chen
      CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, Anhui 230026, P.R. China
      More by Lili Chen
    • Ning Zhang*
      Ning Zhang
      Department of Biology and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University, Hefei, Anhui 230022, China
      *E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: +86 551 63602987.
      More by Ning Zhang
    • Mingming Ma*
      Mingming Ma
      CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, Anhui 230026, P.R. China
      *E-mail: [email protected]
      More by Mingming Ma
      Orcidhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-7967-8927
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    ACS Applied Energy Materials

    Cite this: ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 2018, 1, 8, 4261–4268
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    https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.8b00891
    Published August 15, 2018
    Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society
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    Abstract

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    Flexible supercapacitors are attracting increasing attention as a potential solution for powering flexible electronics. Flexible and electroactive conducting polymer hydrogels can be used as electrode materials for making flexible supercapacitors. However, most of current flexible supercapacitors based on conductive polymer hydrogels are limited by low operation voltage and the usage of acidic, alkaline or ionic liquid electrolytes, resulting in low energy density and potential safety hazards. Herein, we report the design of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)-based robust hydrogels by supramolecular assembly of PEDOT and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) through dynamic boronate bonds. With PVA-Na2SO4 hydrogels as both neutral-pH solid-state electrolyte and separator, two PEDOT–PVA hydrogel electrodes are assembled to give a flexible solid-state supercapacitor (SSC). Because of the high chemical stability of PEDOT–PVA hydrogel and the neutral-pH solid-state electrolyte, this SSC can operate at a high voltage of 1.4 V, which provides a high energy density of 15.2 Wh kg–1 (with power density of 201.1 W kg1–). The robustness of this SSC is demonstrated by its 89% capacitance retention after 1000 charge–discharge cycles, and the ∼100% capacitance retention after 1000 mechanical folding cycles (at a scan rate of 5 A g–1). And the Coulombic efficiency of this supercapacitor remains ∼100%. The combination of high energy density, chemical and mechanical robustness, and the usage of neutral-pH hydrogel electrolyte enable the PEDOT–PVA hydrogel based SSC as a promising high-voltage and safe power device for flexible electronics.

    Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society

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    The Supporting Information is available free of charge on the ACS Publications website at DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.8b00891.

    • Structural and mechanical characterization of PEDOT–PVA hydrogel and the electrochemical characterization of PEDOT–PVA hydrogel electrodes and SSCs (PDF)

    • PEDOT-PVA hydrogel being repeatedly stretched and quickly recovering after being released (AVI)

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    ACS Applied Energy Materials

    Cite this: ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 2018, 1, 8, 4261–4268
    Click to copy citationCitation copied!
    https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.8b00891
    Published August 15, 2018
    Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society
    Request reuse permissions

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