Polyaniline electrochemically deposited on tailored metal mesh for dynamically stretchable supercapacitors

© 2019 The Electrochemical Society. As power source for integrated wearable electronics, stretchable supercapacitors have gained significant attention. Here, an in-plane compression strategy is proposed to make highly stretchable current collectors from commercially available stainless steel mesh. Polyaniline is deposited on the compressed metal mesh to produce stretchable pseudo-capacitive electrode with 100% stretching deformation capability. An intrinsically stretchable supercapacitor is demonstrated using such electrodes and poly(vinyl alcohol)H3PO4 polymer gel electrolyte. The assembled supercapacitor shows an areal capacitance of 13.5 mF cm−2 at a current density of 0.1 mA cm−2. It can maintain 89% of its initial capacitance after 1000 stretching/releasing cycles at a high strain of 100%. It can also endure a dynamic stretching rate of 7.5% s−1 with a capacitance retention of 92.9%. This work proves the potential of fabricating stretchable devices with commodity materials.