‘Candy cane’ structure promises supercapacitor boost

(Credit: Stoyan Smoukov)

According to the team, the electrode is capable of energy storage close to the theoretical limit, while also being flexible and durable over repeat cycles. These properties are a result of the polymer’s ‘candy cane’ structure, whereby the ionically conductive and electrically conductive strands are interwoven on a nanoscale level.

"Our supercapacitors can store a lot of charge very quickly, because the thin active material (the conductive polymer) is always in contact with a second polymer which contains ions, just like the red thin regions of a candy cane are always in close proximity to the white parts,” said project leader Stoyan Smoukov.

“But this is on a much smaller scale. This interpenetrating structure enables the material to bend more easily, as well as swell and shrink without cracking, leading to greater longevity. This one method is like killing not just two, but three birds with one stone."