Scalable fabrication of high-power graphene micro-supercapacitors for flexible and on-chip energy storage

Nat Commun. 2013:4:1475. doi: 10.1038/ncomms2446.

Abstract

The rapid development of miniaturized electronic devices has increased the demand for compact on-chip energy storage. Microscale supercapacitors have great potential to complement or replace batteries and electrolytic capacitors in a variety of applications. However, conventional micro-fabrication techniques have proven to be cumbersome in building cost-effective micro-devices, thus limiting their widespread application. Here we demonstrate a scalable fabrication of graphene micro-supercapacitors over large areas by direct laser writing on graphite oxide films using a standard LightScribe DVD burner. More than 100 micro-supercapacitors can be produced on a single disc in 30 min or less. The devices are built on flexible substrates for flexible electronics and on-chip uses that can be integrated with MEMS or CMOS in a single chip. Remarkably, miniaturizing the devices to the microscale results in enhanced charge-storage capacity and rate capability. These micro-supercapacitors demonstrate a power density of ~200 W cm-3, which is among the highest values achieved for any supercapacitor.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Electric Capacitance*
  • Electrochemistry
  • Electrolytes / chemistry
  • Electronics / instrumentation*
  • Graphite / chemistry*
  • Lasers
  • Microtechnology / instrumentation*
  • Oxides
  • Stress, Mechanical

Substances

  • Electrolytes
  • Oxides
  • Graphite