Description:
Reference #: 00964
Invention Description:
The subject invention consists of activated carbon textiles (ACTs) for energy storage applications. The invented ACTs are highly conductive and flexible, enabling an ideal electric double layer capacitor (EDCL) performance. For this invention, asymmetric super-capacitors were assembled with the ACTs as the negative electrode and the hybrid MnO2/ACT composite as the positive electrode.
Potential Applications:
· Textile super-capacitors
· Fiber super-capacitors
· Other textile based energy storage applications
Advantages and Benefits:
1. The constructed MnO2/ACT hybrid composite by integrated pseudo-capacitive MnO2 into the ACTs shows a remarkably enhanced electrochemical performance.
2. The textile-based asymmetric super-capacitors exhibit superior electrochemical characteristics.
3. This subject invention has no liquid; thus, there is no leakage.
Background:
Direct conversion of cotton textiles into electrically active textiles for constructing super-capacitors remains a great challenge. Cui, et al developed a solution-based technique to convert cotton textiles into conductive textiles by coating the cellulose fibers with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or graphene thin films. The three-dimensional (3D) high-surface characteristic of such textiles facilitates the access of electrolytes, enabling high electrochemical performance of textile super-capacitor. However, the employment of organic surfactants for preparing carbon nanotubes [CNT] "ink" is not environmentally benign. The other drawback is that the use of CNTs increases the cost of the device, which more or less deters their technological applications. The subject invention opens up a new way for the functionalization of cotton textiles as super-capacitor building blocks and provides a low-cost and green solution for textile-based energy-storage devices.