3D Printing of Carbon Nanotubes-Based Microsupercapacitors

A novel 3D printing procedure is presented for fabricating carbon-nanotubes (CNTs)-based microsupercapacitors. The 3D printer uses a CNTs ink slurry with a moderate solid content and prints a stream of continuous droplets. Appropriate control of a heated base is applied to facilitate the solvent removal and adhesion between printed layers and to improve the structure integrity without structure delamination or distortion upon drying. The 3D-printed electrodes for microsupercapacitors are characterized by SEM, laser scanning confocal microscope, and step profiler. Effect of process parameters on 3D printing is also studied. The final solid-state microsupercapacitors are assembled with the printed multilayer CNTs structures and poly(vinyl alcohol)-H₃PO₄ gel as the interdigitated microelectrodes and electrolyte. The electrochemical performance of 3D printed microsupercapacitors is also tested, showing a significant areal capacitance and excellent cycle stability.