Diamond and Carbon Materials

Renewable energy sources such as solar energy and wind power are intermittent in nature, reliable electrochemical energy storage systems, mainly including rechargeable batteries and electrochemical capacitors (supercapacitors), are purposely explored to promote efficient utilization of these energy sources and are a growing challenge. In the meantime, flexible/stretchable electronics have attracted considerable attention very recent years and have opened the door to many important applications that current, rigid electronics cannot achieve. In order to accommodate these needs, energy source devices must be flexible and stretchable in addition to their high energy and power density, light weight, miniaturization in size, and safety requirements.

The development of stretchable energy storage devices has been one of the most important research areas in recent years and relies mostly on the successful fabrication of electrode materials. Utilizing nanomaterials and nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for various energy storage applications such as electrodes for lithium ion batteries and supercapacitors and as catalyst supports in fuel cells are under scrutiny because of their improved electrochemical activity, cost effectiveness, environmental benign nature, and promising electrochemical performance. In this presentation, I will report our research efforts in the fabrication of stretchable supercapacitors based on CNT macrofilms, including stretchable double layer supercapacitors, pseudocapacitors, and asymmetric supercapacitors that can stably be operated under both static and dynamic modes.