Wearable Supercapacitor Based On Conductive PEDOT: PSS Coated Cloth And Sweat Electrolyte

With the development of Internet of things, virtual / augmented reality and robotics, more and more people begin to be interested in intelligent wearable devices with high-density flexible energy storage devices. However, traditional energy storage devices usually use toxic electrolytes and have a limited service life, which limits the development of smart wearable devices. Recently, British scientists have designed a flexible supercapacitor (SC) based on PEDOT: PSS, a self-powered intelligent textile device and a wearable integrated system, which solves the hidden dangers of traditional battery devices.

The flexible supercapacitors use polyester cellulose cloth as the base material and separator, sweat as the electrolyte, and poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS) as the electrode And collector.

Sweat as an electrolyte has the advantages of being non-toxic, safe and environmentally friendly compared to other organic electrolytes. PEDOT: PSS, as a highly active material, can provide mixed ionic conductivity and electronic conductivity, better adhesion to textiles, low-temperature processing and good biocompatibility.

In this study, scientists first reported PEDOT: the use of PSS as a single electrode (both as a current collector and as an active electrode).

To improve conductivity, the researchers incorporated DMSO into PEDOT: PSS. The stable adhesion between PEDOT: PSS and cellulose / polyester fiber cloth is due to the strong electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interaction between charged PEDOT: PSS and the hydroxyl groups of cellulose. Due to the presence of natural cellulose fibers, these cloths provide excellent moisture absorption capacity for PEDOT: PSS coatings. These features significantly improve the electrochemical performance of flexible supercapacitors.

This study demonstrates the potential of flexible supercapacitors in self-powered wearable devices / textiles. It provides a feasible solution for the development of a low-power self-powered wearable system with sensors.

Related links: PEDOT: PSS

Reference materials: Libu Manjakkal, Nivasan Yogeswaran, Ensieh S. Hosseini, etal. A Wearable Supercapacitor Based on Conductive PEDOT: PSS‐Coated Cloth and a Sweat Electrolyte [J] Adv. Mater. 2020 doi.org/10.1002/adma.201907254