Hierarchically Porous, Laser-Pyrolyzed Carbon Electrode from Black Photoresist for On-Chip Microsupercapacitors

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Microsupercapacitors (MSCs) require advanced electrode materials for enhanced energy storage.
• Traditional carbon electrode fabrication often involves high temperatures and complex processes.
• Developing facile and efficient methods for on-chip energy storage is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a laser-pyrolyzed carbon (LPC) electrode from black photoresist for on-chip MSCs.
• To investigate the properties of LPC electrodes fabricated by direct laser writing.
• To evaluate the performance of MSCs utilizing these novel LPC electrodes.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of interdigitated LPC electrodes using direct laser writing with a CO2 laser on black SU-8 film.
• Simultaneous carbonization and patterning of the photoresist via a fast photo-thermal reaction.
• Optimization of laser pyrolysis conditions for low sheet resistance and good porosity.

Main Results:

• A hierarchically macroporous, graphitic carbon structure with low defect density (ID/IG = 0.19) was achieved.
• The fabricated LPC electrodes exhibited a large areal capacitance of 1.26 mF cm-2.
• The MSCs demonstrated superior performance compared to those with thermally pyrolyzed carbon electrodes.

Conclusions:

• Laser pyrolysis of black SU-8 is a simple and effective method for producing high-quality LPC electrodes.
• The developed technique enables facile fabrication of porous, graphitic carbon for high-performance on-chip MSCs.
• This approach avoids the need for high-temperature thermal pyrolysis, simplifying the manufacturing process.