100 m Long Thermally Drawn Supercapacitor Fibers with Applications to 3D Printing and Textiles

Abstract

Supercapacitor fibers, with short charging times, long cycle lifespans, and high power densities, hold promise for powering flexible fabric‐based electronics. To date, however, only short lengths of functioning fiber supercapacitors have been produced. The primary goal of this study is to introduce a supercapacitor fiber that addresses the remaining challenges of scalability, flexibility, cladding impermeability, and performance at length. This is achieved through a top‐down fabrication method in which a macroscale preform is thermally drawn into a fully functional energy‐storage fiber. The preform consists of five components: thermally reversible porous electrode and electrolyte gels; conductive polymer and copper microwire current collectors; and an encapsulating hermetic cladding. This process produces 100 m of continuous functional supercapacitor fiber, orders of magnitude longer than any previously reported. In addition to flexibility (5 mm radius of curvature), moisture resistance (100 washing cycles), and strength (68 MPa), these fibers have an energy density of 306 μWh cm−2 at 3.0 V and ≈100% capacitance retention over 13 000 cycles at 1.6 V. To demonstrate the utility of this fiber, it is machine‐woven and used as filament for 3D printing.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Nov 04, 2020
Source ID
10.1002/adma.202004971

Entities

People

  • Eric Argentieri
  • Frannie Logan
  • Gabriel Loke
  • Grace H. Noel
  • Jason R. Cox
  • John D. Joannopoulos
  • Jung Tae Lee
  • Rodger Yuan
  • Ryoichi Tatara
  • Tural Khudiyev
  • Yang Shao‐horn
  • Yang Yu
  • Yoel Fink

Organizations

  • Advanced Functional Fabrics of America
  • Army Research Office
  • Kyung Hee University
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • National Research Foundation
  • National Science Foundation
  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Battery Technology and Engineering
  • Optical Fiber Sensing and Electromagnetic Propagation.
  • Reinforced Composite Materials

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics