Graphene supercapacitors fuel next-gen wearables

Graphene supercapacitors revolutionize energy storage for wearables and electronics, offering flexibility, recyclability, and superior performance.

Flexible and wearable electronics are being touted as the next generation technology, showing a wide variety of uses including diagnostics. But, researchers say these devices will reach their full potential only when the energy systems powering them are just as adaptable.

The future of wearable and portable devices depends on energy storage that can bend, stretch, and conform without limits. In this context, the potential of graphene-based supercapacitors is attracting attention from major tech hubs worldwide. Key applications for such devices are for portable, miniaturised energy storage for wearables, medical implants, environmental sensors, consumer applications, and low-power electronics.

“Graphene supercapacitors could soon become a cornerstone in the future of sustainable energy storage as demand for greener and faster energy solutions grows,” says Sanket Goel, dean (Research & Innovation), MEMS Microfluidics and Nanoelectronics Lab at Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS)-Pilani, Hyderabad.

The research team, in collaboration with the University at Buffalo (US), including Thomas Thundat, PhD student Himanshi Awasthi and researcher Pavar Sai Kumar, has developed an energy storage solution using flexible, laser-induced nanographene supercapacitors, poised to revolutionise low-power applications.

Using laser engraving techniques, the research team has fabricated supercapacitors on flexible substrates or underlying surface like ‘polyamide’ (LIG or laser induced graphene) and paper substrate (‘LIrGO’ or laser induced graphene dioxide). These materials offer significant advantages: LIG exhibits a highly porous structure, ideal for ion transport, while paper-based LIrGO is recyclable and environmentally friendly, he says.

The supercapacitors have demonstrated remarkable electrochemical performance, with those made from polyamide showing superior capacitance and energy density compared to those made from paper. They also exhibited behaviour characteristic of Electrical Double-Layer Capacitors.

Graphene supercapacitors are expected to experience rapid growth, driven by increasing investments in renewable energy and electric mobility apart from the flexible electronics market. Material properties of both were examined using electron microscopy and spectroscopy, adds Mr. Goel.