Wet-spinning assembly and in situ electrodeposition of carbon nanotube-based composite fibers for high energy density wire-shaped asymmetric supercapacitor

Abstract Objective Wire-shaped supercapacitors (WSC) have attracted tremendous attention for powering portable electronic devices. However, previously reported WSC suffered from a complicated fabrication process and high cost. The objective of this study is to develop a facile and scalable process for the fabrication of high energy density WSC. Experiments We coupled the wet-spinning assembly with an in situ electrodeposition technique to prepare carbon nanotube (CNT)-based composite fibers. The charge balance between the electrodes was realized by controlling the deposition time of the pseudocapacitive materials. A wire-shaped asymmetric supercapacitor (WASC) was fabricated by twisting MnO2/CNT fiber cathode and PPy/CNT fiber anode with LiCl/PVA electrolyte. Findings The flexible MnO2/CNT//PPy/CNT WASC operated in a broadened voltage range of 0–1.8 V exhibited a high capacitance of 17.5 F cm–3 (10.7 F g–1). In addition, it delivered a maximum energy and power densities of 7.88 mWh cm–3 (4.82 Wh kg–1) and 2.26 W cm–3 (1382 W kg–1), respectively. The WASC device demonstrated satisfactory cycling stability with 86% capacitance retention, and its Coulombic efficiency remained at 96% after 5000 charge–discharge cycles. The contributions of the diffusion-controlled insertion and the surface capacitive effect were theoretically quantified to investigate the energy storage mechanism. The fabrication approaches hold potential for the construction of cost-effective and high-performance WSC.