"Editable" fabric-like supercapacitor provides power even when cut, folded or stretched

Supercapacitors are electronic components which can act like batteries, storing and releasing charge quickly. Flexible supercapacitors have been made before, but can only be shaped and stretched in predetermined ways, limiting their suitability for clothing applications. The Singapore team, from the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Nanyang Technical University, has been working on this topic for some years, and now claims to have developed a far more versatile material.

Rather than only being suitable for predetermined designs and structures, the shape and structure of the new material can be changed after manufacture without compromising its function as a power source, the team said in a paper in the journal Advanced Materials. It can be stretched in multiple directions, and when made into a honeycomb-like structure it can store electrical charge four times higher than other stretchy supercapacitors. Moreover, when stretched to four times its original length, it retains 98 per cent of its original charge capacity, even after 10,000 stretch-and-release cycles.