State Key Laboratory of Robotics and Systems, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin, Heilongjiang, China , 150001.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2017 Aug 23;9(33):27745-27753. doi: 10.1021/acsami.7b07836. Epub 2017 Aug 15.
Excellent self-healability and renewability are crucial for the development of wearable/flexible energy-storage devices aiming for advanced personalized electronics. However, realizing low-temperature self-healing and harmless regeneration remains a big challenge for existing wearable/flexible energy-storage devices, which is fundamentally limited by conventional polymeric electrolytes that are intrinsically neither cryo-healable nor renewable. Here, we rationally design a multifunctional polymer electrolyte on the basis of the copolymer of vinylimidazole and hydroxypropyl acrylate, which exhibits all features solving the above-mentioned limitations. A supercapacitor comprising the electrolyte autonomously restores its electrochemical behaviors at temperatures ranging from 25 to -15 °C after multiple mechanical breakings. Interestingly, it is even able to regenerate for 5 cycles through a simple wetting process in the case of malfunction, while maintaining its capacitive properties and excellent self-healability. Our investigation provides a novel insight into designing smart and sustainable energy-storage devices that might be applied to intelligent apparel, electronic skin or flexible robot, and so on.
优异的自修复性和可再成性对于开发用于先进个性化电子设备的可穿戴/柔性储能器件至关重要。然而，对于现有的可穿戴/柔性储能器件，实现低温自修复和无害再生仍然是一个巨大的挑战，这主要受到传统聚合物电解质的限制，这些电解质本身既不可低温修复也不可再生。在这里，我们基于乙烯基咪唑和羟丙基丙烯酸酯的共聚物，合理设计了一种多功能聚合物电解质，该电解质具有解决上述限制的所有特性。包含该电解质的超级电容器在多次机械断裂后能够在 25 至-15°C 的温度范围内自主恢复其电化学性能。有趣的是，即使在出现故障的情况下，通过简单的润湿过程也能够再生 5 次，同时保持其电容性能和优异的自修复性。我们的研究为设计智能和可持续的储能器件提供了新的思路，这些器件可能应用于智能服装、电子皮肤或柔性机器人等领域。
