Phase-Inverted Copolymer Membrane for the Enhancement of Textile Supercapacitors

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Textile Engineering

Background:

• Textile-based supercapacitors offer potential for flexible energy storage.
• Existing fabrication methods are often limited by textile properties like weave and material.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a universal fabrication process for single-layer textile supercapacitors.
• To create a robust, integrated separator within diverse textiles.
• To enable high energy density textile energy storage.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of an engineered copolymer membrane via automated screen printing, phase inversion, and vacuum curing.
• Integration of the membrane within various textiles (polyester, polyester-cotton, silk) to act as a separator.
• Deposition of carbon-based electrodes onto textiles to form supercapacitors.

Main Results:

• Achieved areal capacitances ranging from 3.12 to 38.2 mF·cm⁻².
• Obtained energy densities between 0.279 and 0.681 mWh·cm⁻³.
• Demonstrated average power densities between 0.334 and 0.32 W·cm⁻³.

Conclusions:

• The novel membrane fabrication process is independent of textile properties, enabling universal application.
• The process yields flexible, mechanically durable textile supercapacitors with competitive electrochemical performance.
• This advancement paves the way for next-generation high energy density textile-based energy storage devices, including batteries.