Effect of surface modification of printed electrodes on the performance of supercapacitors. (10th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Srinivasan K V, Sai; Santo, Jose; Penumakala, Pavan Kumar
• Is Part Of: Journal of energy storage. Volume 56:Part B(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-12-10
• Subjects: Additive manufacturing -- Fused Deposition Modelling -- Supercapacitor -- Energy storage -- Solvent-activation; Energy storage -- Periodicals; Energy storage -- Research -- Periodicals; 621.3126
• DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2022.106043
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-152X

Abstract

Abstract: Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), one of the 3D printing techniques is a low-cost method to print electrodes using conductive polymer composite filaments. In this study, electrochemical performance of EDLC supercapacitor assembled with 3D printed electrodes and two different electrolyte salts (KCl and (NH4 )2 SO4 ) in a PVA gel has been analysed. The electrodes are printed using graphene/carbon nanofiber incorporated PLA composite filaments. It is found that post-processing of printed electrodes is necessary to improve the electrochemical performance. Therefore, printed electrodes are sonicated in Dimethylformamide (DMF) solution, which modifies the electrode surface and increases the exposure of conducting materials with electrolyte. Effect of sonication time has been studied by exposing electrodes for 2 min and 10 min. The specific capacitance increases by two orders with 2 min sonication in both KCl and (NH4 )2 SO4 . Also, increasing the sonication time to 10 min decreases the specific capacitance by 43 % for KCl and 23 % for (NH4 )2 SO4, respectively. This is due to loss of structural integrity of the printed electrode with prolonged sonication time. This study provides a foundation to design more efficient electrodes for EDLC supercapacitors. Highlights: Electrodes of EDLC supercapacitor are 3D printed using conductive composite filaments. Solvent activation of electrodes increases the capacitance by two orders of magnitude. Longer activation times weaken the structure and decreases the capacitance.