Biohydrogel from unsaturated polyesteramide: Synthesis, properties and utilization as electrolytic medium for electrochemical supercapacitors. (February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ruano, Guillem; Díaz, Angélica; Tononi, Jordi; Torras, Juan; Puiggalí, Jordi; Alemán, Carlos
• Is Part Of: Polymer testing. Volume 82(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-02
• Subjects: Energy storage -- Hydrogel electronics -- Ion conductivity -- Photo-crosslinking -- Wearable electronics; Polymers -- Testing -- Periodicals; Polymères -- Tests -- Périodiques; 620.1920287
• DOI: 10.1016/j.polymertesting.2019.106300
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0142-9418

Abstract

Abstract: The utilization of hydrogels derived from biopolymers as solid electrolyte (SE) of electrochemical supercapacitors (ESCs) is a topic of increasing interest because of their promising applications in biomedicine ( e.g. for energy storage in autonomous implantable devices). In this work an unsaturated polyesteramide that contains phenylalanine, butenediol and fumarate as building blocks has been photo-crosslinked to obtain a hydrogel (UPEA-h). The structure of UPEA-h, which is characterized by a network of open interconnected pores surrounded by regions with compact morphology, favors ion transport, while the biodegradability and biocompatibility conferred by the α-amino acid unit and the ester group are appropriated for its usage in the biomedical field. Voltammetric and galvanostatic assays have been conducted to evaluate the behavior of UPEA-h when used as SE in ESCs with poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) electrodes. Hence, PEDOT/UPEA-h devices displayed supercapacitor response of up 179 F/g and capacitance retention higher than 90%. Moreover, the long-term stability, leakage-current, and self-discharging response of PEDOT/UPEA-h ESCs reflect the great potential of UPEA-h as ion-conductive electrolyte. Indeed, the performance of PEDOT/UPEA-h is higher than found in analogous devices constructed using other biohydrogels as SE ( e.g. κ-carrageenan, poly- γ -glutamic acid and cellulose hydrogels). Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: Building blocks have been photo-crosslinked to prepare a polyesteramide hydrogel. The morphology of the biodegradable and biocompatible hydrogel favors ion transport. Its ionic conductivity is higher than that of conventional gel polymer electrolytes. It exhibits excellent performance as electrolyte for electrochemical supercapacitors. The hydrogel has great potential for self-powered biomedical implants.