Stretchable rubber-like energy storage devices for wearable technology

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Collaborative research with Professor Jin Kon Kim and Dr. Keon-Woo Kim of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), and Dr. Chanwoo Yang and researcher Seong Ju Park of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH), has revealed that stretching, twisting, Significant progress has been made in developing compact energy storage devices that can be folded and wrinkled. Their research was published in a reputed electronics engineering journal. npj flexible electronics.

With the advent of wearable technology, there is an urgent need for energy storage solutions that can accommodate the flexibility and stretchability of soft electronic devices.micro supercapacitor^*1 (MSCs) have emerged as promising candidates for deformable energy storage due to their high power density, fast charging, and long cycle life. However, fabricating comb-shaped electrode patterns that can maintain energy storage performance even under repeated stretching and twisting remains a major challenge, as brittle materials such as gold (Au) are commonly used as electrodes. . On the other hand, gallium-indium eutectic liquid metal (EGaIn) has high conductivity and deformability, but the extremely high surface tension of EGaIn makes fine patterning very difficult.

The research team used a laser to create a layer of EGaIn and graphene (which acts as the active material) on a stretchable polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-co-butylene)-block-polystyrene copolymer (SEBS) substrate. We succeeded in finely patterning both. . During laser ablation of the EGaIn and graphene layers, the underlying stretchable SEBS substrate was not damaged and the flexibility of the MSC device was maintained. The areal capacitance of the resulting MSC retains its original value even after expansion up to 1,000 cycles. The fabricated MSCs also behave stably under various mechanical deformations such as stretching, folding, twisting, and wrinkling (see attached images).

This research was supported by financial support from the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Korea (National Creative Research Initiative Program) and the industry-leading Key Production Technology Development Project of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology.

reference: Kim KW, Park SJ, Park SJ et al. Deformable microsupercapacitors fabricated by laser ablation patterning of graphene/liquid metal. npj flex electron. 2024;8(1):18. doi: 10.1038/s41528-024-00306-2

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