Scientists develop integrated electrodes for high-energy-density flexible supercapacitors

Recently, a research team led by Prof. Zhao Bangchuan from the Institute of Solid Materials of the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) synthesized 3D porous honeycomb-like CoN-Ni₃N/N-C nanosheets and vanadium nitride (VN) nanobelt arrays via in-situ growth method, respectively, and constructed a high-energy-density flexible supercapacitor device. The result has been published in Advanced Functional Materials.

Transition metal nitrides (TMNs) are potential electrode materials for high-performance energy storage devices, but the structural instability severely hinders their application. Therefore it is urgent to construct advanced cathode materials for flexible, wearable, long-life and high-energy-density energy storage devices.

In this research, scientists designed and fabricated an integrated cathode with 3D porous honeycomb-like CoN-Ni₃N/N-C nanosheets, which were grown on flexible carbon cloth (CC) via a mild solvothermal method after post-nitrogenizing treatment.

Further experiments proved that the intrinsic conductivity was enhanced, and concentration of the active sites was increased. It gives advantage to the optimized CoN-Ni₃N/N-C/CC, which can be used as an integrated electrode for the supercapacitor to achieves remarkable electrochemical performance.

This supercapacitor delivers an excellent energy density of 106 μWh cm² with maximum power density of 40 mW cm², displaying an outstanding cycle stability.

This work provides a viable strategy to construct high-energy flexible wearable electronics in next-generation electrochemical energy storage field.