Hierarchically Structured Porous Electro-Conductive Aerogels for All-Solid-State Flexible Planar Supercapacitors with
Huixiang Wang1, Kaiquan Zhang1, Ya Lu2
1Department of Biological Sciences, Xinzhou Normal University, Xinzhou 034000, China.
Gels (Basel, Switzerland)
|March 27, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed flexible supercapacitors using cellulose nanofiber-carbon nanotube@manganese dioxide aerogels. These durable, high-performance devices offer promising energy storage for wearable electronics.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrochemistry
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Flexible supercapacitors are crucial for portable and wearable electronics.
- Current challenges include achieving high energy density, power density, and cyclic stability simultaneously.
- Existing designs often struggle with device configuration simplicity and long-term durability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel all-solid-state flexible planar supercapacitor.
- To enhance energy storage performance through a hierarchically structured composite aerogel.
- To address the limitations of current flexible energy storage solutions.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of cellulose nanofiber-carbon nanotube@manganese dioxide (CNF-CNT@MnO2) composite aerogels.
- Design of a 3D conductive network using CNFs and CNTs for efficient electron transport.
- In situ oxidative polymerization of MnO2 onto the CNF-CNT scaffold to enhance pseudocapacitance.
- Assembly of an all-solid-state planar supercapacitor with gel electrolyte and hydrogel substrate.
Main Results:
- The CNF-CNT@MnO2 aerogel electrode exhibited low density (14.6 mg cm-3) and high specific surface area (214.4 m2 g-1).
- Achieved a specific capacitance of 273.0 F g-1 at 0.4 A g-1.
- The planar supercapacitor demonstrated high areal capacitance (885.0 mF cm-2), energy density (122.9 μWh cm-2), and power density (1000.0 μW cm-2).
- Exceptional electrochemical stability (83.3% capacitance retention after 2500 cycles) and mechanical flexibility (96.3% retention after 200 bending cycles).
Conclusions:
- The developed CNF-CNT@MnO2 composite aerogel is a highly effective electrode material for flexible supercapacitors.
- The hierarchical structure facilitates electrolyte penetration, electron transport, and pseudocapacitance.
- The device offers a viable pathway for high-performance, durable energy storage in wearable electronics.
- Scalability demonstrated through series/parallel device connections for tailored power output.
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