J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2024, Vol. 203: 201-210.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2024.02.084

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Interfacial-engineered robust and high performance flexible polylactic acid/polyaniline/MXene electrodes for high-perfarmance supercapacitors

Zhaoyang Lia, Jiongru Lia, Bo Wub, Huige Weia,c,*, Hua Guod, Zeinhom M. El-Bahye, Baosheng Liuf, Muhun Hed, Saad Melhig, Xuetao Shid, Saleh D. Mekkeyh, Yunlong Sunb, Ben Bin Xui, Zhanhu Guo*   

  1. aTianjin Key Laboratory of Brine Chemical Engineering and Resource Eco-utilization, College of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China;
    bCollege of Light Industry Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China;
    cTianjin Key Laboratory of Multiplexed Identification for Port Hazardous Chemicals, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China;
    dShaanxi Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China;
    eDepartment of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City 11884, Cairo, Egypt;
    fCollege of Materials Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China;
    gDepartment of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Bisha, Bisha, 61922, Saudi Arabia;
    hChemistry Department, College of Sciences and Arts, Northern Border University, Rafha, 91911, Saudi Arabia;
    iDepartment of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK
  • Received:2024-01-20 Revised:2024-02-18 Accepted:2024-02-21 Published:2024-12-20 Online:2024-12-16
  • Contact: *E-mail addresses: huigewei@tust.edu.cn (H. Wei), zhanhu.guo@northumbria.ac.uk (Z. Guo) .

Abstract: Flexible supercapacitors with high mechanical strength, excellent flexibility, and high performance are highly desired to meet the increasing demands of flexible electronics. However, the trade-off between mechanical and electrochemical properties remains challenging. In this context, an interface-engineered strategy approach was proposed to construct polylactic acid (PLA)/polyaniline (PANI)/MXene (PPM) film electrodes for flexible supercapacitor applications. In the PPM electrode, the porous PLA prepared from the nonsolvent-induced-phase-separation method served as an ideal flexible substrate, providing excellent flexibility and high mechanical strength, whereas PANI as the coupling agent, enhanced the interfacial strength between PLA and the electroactive MXene that was firmly anchored and deposited on PLA through a facile layer-by-layer dip coating method. The tensile strength at break, elongation at break, and toughness of PPM are 53.09 MPa, 11.09 %, and 4.12 MJ/m3, respectively, much higher than those of pure MXene (29.36 MPa, 4.62 %, and 0.75 MJ/m3). At an optimum mass loading density of 3 mg cm-2 for MXene, the fabricated PPM3 film electrode achieved a high specific capacitance of 290.8 F g-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1 in the three-electrode setup, approximately 1.5 times that of 190.8 F g-1 for pure MXene. Meanwhile, the symmetric all-solid-state supercapacitor based on PPM3 film electrodes delivers a high specific capacitance of 193.7 F g-1 at a current density of 0.25 A g-1, with a corresponding high energy density of 9.3 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 291.3 W kg-1. The SC retains 86 % of its original capacitance even bent at 120° and also possesses an excellent fire-retardant ability, demonstrating its great potential for flexible and safe wearable electronics.

Key words: Flexible supercapacitors, Porous polylactic acid, MXene, Interface engineering