FYP 2 Reflection of Progress 1 (Update)

The goal/objective of the project

1. To fabricate cellulose-based electrodes for energy storage application using pencil-on-paper technique.

2. To characterize physical properties of electrodes structure.

3. To analyze the electrical properties of the cellulose-based capacitor and supercapacitor structure.

Explain the procedure/workflow to conduct the experiment hardware/software/simulation/hybrid)

Experimental procedure :

1. The A4 paper (70 gsm) was immersed into 0.3 M HCL for 10min, then washed with deionized water to remove any foaming composition such as carbonate and placed in a fume hood at room temperature to dry it.
2. Then a common 8B pencil was used to draw on the acid-treated paper for two times, forming a uniform graphite layer.
3. The PANI nanowire networks were synthesized by oxidation of aniline (0.3 M Aniline in 1 M HCl aqueous solution) through a two-step method by a conventional three-electrode system. For the first step, the seeding layer of PANI was nucleated at a potential of 0.8V for 10 min at room temperature. Then the nanowire networks were grown under a constant current density of 0.5 mA cm-2.
4. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/sulfuric acid (H2SO4) electrolyte was prepared by adding PVA power (6 g) into 60 ml 1.0 M H2SO4 aqueous solution and 60 ml deionized water.
5. The whole mixture was heated to 85 C under vigorous stirring until the solution became clear, then the solution was kept at 85 C without stirring for about 1 h.
6. After cooling down, two graphite/polyaniline paper (G/PANI-Paper) electrodes were immersed into the PVA/H2SO4 electrolyte for 5 min and then were assembled into a supercapacitor by sandwiching a cellulose membrane as a separator between them.

Reference

1. Yao, B., Yuan, L., Xiao, X., Zhang, J., Qi, Y., Zhou, J., ... & Chen, W. (2013). based solid-state supercapacitors with pencil-drawing graphite/polyaniline networks hybrid electrodes. Nano Energy, 2(6), 1071-1078.
2. Yao, B., Zhang, J., Kou, T., Song, Y., Liu, T., & Li, Y. (2017). Paper? based electrodes for flexible energy storage devices. Advanced Science, 4(7), 1700107.

3. Chen, C., & Hu, L. (2018). Nanocellulose toward advanced energy storage devices: structure and electrochemistry. Accounts of chemical research, 51(12), 3154-3165.

4. Down, M. P., Foster, C. W., Ji, X., & Banks, C. E. (2016). Pencil drawn paper based supercapacitors. RSC advances, 6(84), 81130-81141.