Abstract:
Laser-induced graphene (LIG) is a widely used electrode material for double-layer electric capacitors, while its relatively low electrochemical properties hinder its further applications. The addition of pseudocapacitive materials can effectively enhance the supercapacitor performance. In this paper, MnO
2/LIG composites were synthesized simultaneously by laser direct writing technology, which was further utilized to assemble planar flexible supercapacitors. Tests show that the MnO
2 nanoparticles uniformly deposit on the porous structure of graphene, which made the MnO
2/LIG composites integrate the strong electrical conductivity of graphene with the high specific capacitance property of MnO
2. A planar flexible supercapacitor was assembled with the MnO
2/LIG composite structure as the electrode and PVA/H
3PO
4 as the gel electrolyte, demonstrating a specific area capacitance of 8.75 mF/cm
2 and a specific area energy density of 1.21 μWh/cm
2 at a current density of 10 μA/cm
2. After 10,000 charge/discharge cycles, the assembled supercapacitor keeps a capacitance retention rate of up to 93% and a coulometric efficiency of 86%. Moreover, the device shows excellent flexibility under different bending angles and good series/parallel connection characteristics, which can be arbitrarily combined to increase voltage and energy density, and thus greatly expands the application scenarios of flexible supercapacitors in the field of flexible energy storage.