Novel Thermoplastic Polyurethanes Enable Biaxially Stretchable Conductor for Supercapacitors with High Areal Capacitance.

Wang, Meng; Jiang, Xin; Liu, Manyu; Deng, Bin; Chen, Dinghui; Cai, Yulu; Ning, Jiaoyi; Cui, Jixiang et al. · Nano Lett · 2024

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Stretchable supercapacitors are essential components in wearable electronics due to their low heat generation and seamless integration capabilities. Thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers, recognized for their dynamic hydrogen-bonding structure, exhibit excellent stretchability, making them well-suited for these applications. This study introduces fluorine-based interactions in the hard segments of thermoplastic polyurethanes, resulting in polyurethanes with a low elastic modulus, high fracture strength, exceptional fatigue resistance, and self-healing properties. By utilizing these polyurethanes as binders and meshed fabric as scaffolds, we developed highly stretchable conductors. These conductors maintain low resistance (∼26 ohms) under biaxial stretching and exhibit a stable bidirectional conductivity after 1600 stretching cycles. The fabricated supercapacitor electrode, incorporating fabric current collectors, polyurethane, and MXene, achieves an ultrahigh areal specific capacitance of 7200 mF cm<sup>-2</sup> and retains 100% capacity after 2300 cycles. This material design strategy offers significant potential in elastic materials, stretchable conductors, and high-performance energy storage for wearable electronics.