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Title: Supercapacitors Based on Three-Dimensional Hierarchical Graphene Aerogels with Periodic Macropores

Journal Article · · Nano Letters
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  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)

Graphene is an atomically thin, two-dimensional (2D) carbon material that offers a unique combination of low density, exceptional mechanical properties, thermal stability, large surface area, and excellent electrical conductivity. Recent progress has resulted in macro-assemblies of graphene, such as bulk graphene aerogels for a variety of applications. However, these three-dimensional (3D) graphenes exhibit physicochemical property attenuation compared to their 2D building blocks because of one-fold composition and tortuous, stochastic porous networks. These limitations can be offset by developing a graphene composite material with an engineered porous architecture. In this work, we report the fabrication of 3D periodic graphene composite aerogel microlattices for supercapacitor applications, via a 3D printing technique known as direct-ink writing. The key factor in developing these novel aerogels is creating an extrudable graphene oxide-based composite ink and modifying the 3D printing method to accommodate aerogel processing. The 3D-printed graphene composite aerogel (3D-GCA) electrodes are lightweight, highly conductive, and exhibit excellent electrochemical properties. In particular, the supercapacitors using these 3D-GCA electrodes with thicknesses on the order of millimeters display exceptional capacitive retention (ca. 90% from 0.5 to 10 A·g–1) and power densities (>4 kW·kg–1) that equal or exceed those of reported devices made with electrodes 10–100 times thinner. This work provides an example of how 3D-printed materials, such as graphene aerogels, can significantly expand the design space for fabricating high-performance and fully integrable energy storage devices optimized for a broad range of applications.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1809159
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-720298; 860189
Journal Information:
Nano Letters, Vol. 16, Issue 6; ISSN 1530-6984
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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  • Worsley, Marcus A.; Pauzauskie, Peter J.; Olson, Tammy Y.
  • Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 132, Issue 40, p. 14067-14069 https://doi.org/10.1021/ja1072299
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