Cascaded Spatial Confinement Enables Simultaneous Ultrahigh Energy and Power Densities in Planar...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Planar microsupercapacitors (P-MSCs) are crucial for on-chip power in integrated electronics due to their high power density and conformal nature.
• Improving energy density within a limited footprint necessitates understanding and optimizing the structure-performance relationship of P-MSCs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel cascaded spatial confinement strategy for constructing 3D interlocked P-MSCs.
• To enhance ion-electron enrichment and improve charge transport and storage within P-MSCs.
• To establish an effective structure-performance relationship for high-energy-density P-MSCs.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of laser-etched pyramid microarrays on graphite current collectors to induce capillary forces.
• Confining electrode slurry and electrolyte within microarrays to form a compact conduction network and ion-electron interaction interface.
• Testing Zn//active carbon (AC) P-MSCs to evaluate the strategy's effectiveness in material utilization, energy density, and power density.

Main Results:

• The strategy significantly boosted active material utilization (over 2-fold) in Zn//AC P-MSCs.
• Achieved an outstanding energy density of 117.5 mWh/cm³ and power density of 2382.0 mW/cm³.
• Demonstrated universality across eight different P-MSC systems and superior areal performance compared to existing Zn-based P-MSCs.

Conclusions:

• The cascaded spatial confinement strategy effectively enhances ion accessibility and kinetics in P-MSCs.
• The developed 3D interlocked P-MSCs offer significant advantages for powering miniaturized electronics, flexible displays, and serve as emergency power sources.
• This approach provides a pathway for designing high-performance microsupercapacitors with improved energy storage capabilities.