Dramatically Enhanced Ion Conductivity of Gel Polymer Electrolyte for Supercapacitor via h-BN Nanosheets Doping. (10th February 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hu, Jingzhi; Xie, Keyu; Liu, Xiaoyan; Guo, Shaohui; Shen, Chao; Liu, Xingrui; Li, Xuanhua; Wang, Jian-gan; Wei, Bingqing
• Is Part Of: Electrochimica acta. Volume 227(2017)
• Page Start: 455
• Page End: 461
• Publication Date: 2017-02-10
• Subjects: gel polymer electrolyte -- boron nitride nanosheets -- ionic conductivity -- supercapacitor; Electrochemistry -- Periodicals; Electrochemistry, Industrial -- Periodicals; 541.37
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2017.01.045
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-4686

Abstract

Highlights: A novel h-BN-doped PVA-H2 SO4 GPE is first fabricated using a facile method. The novel GPE exhibits a dramatically enhanced ionic conductivity. The h-BN nanosheets act as a super-highway for ion conducting. Abstract: A novel hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (h-BN)-doped poly (vinyl alcohol)-sulfuric acid (PVA-H2 SO4 ) gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) is first fabricated through a facile freeze-thaw method. The ionic conductivities of the h-BN-doped PVA-H2 SO4 GPEs with various h-BN nanosheet contents are evaluated. With the optimal content of h-BN nanosheets (0.025 mg ml −1 ), the ionic conductivity of the GPE can reach up to 29 mS cm −1, three times higher than that of GPE without the h-BN nanosheets (9 mS cm −1 ). The h-BN nanosheets are considered as a "super-highway" for ion transport in PVA-H2 SO4 GPE. Moreover, a symmetric qusai-solid-state supercapacitor, with activated carbon as electrodes and the h-BN nanosheets-doped PVA-H2 SO4 gel polymer as an electrolyte and separator, delivers a high specific capacitance, good rate capability, and excellent cycle stability. At the current density of 0.5 A g −1, the symmetry qusai-solid-state supercapacitor can deliver an electrode specific capacitance of 124.5 F g −1, and remain 99.2% capacitance after 5000 charge-discharge cycles. The h-BN nanosheets-doped GPE, with superior performance and facile synthesis method, appears to be a promising candidate for high-performance qusai-solid-state supercapacitors and other electrochemical devices, such as rechargeable batteries, fuel cells. This work also sheds light on the possibility to use 2D materials in advanced GPE.