Culinary inspired electrolytes for textile supercapacitors

Abstract

The choice of electrolyte for supercapacitors is challenging, with voltage stability, physical properties, environmental concerns and production processes all having to be taken into account. This challenge is greater still when thinking about e-textile applications, as these devices will be in close proximity to the end user. Historically, this challenge has been overcome with sophisticated encapsulation or the dilution of traditional supercapacitor electrolytes. This work looks to challenge these norms by investigating the performance of everyday, cupboard-items as electrolytes. The performance of four electrolytes (Grenade Energy® drink, an isotonic sports drink and LoSalt® solutions) were evaluated in a single layer, activated-carbon textile supercapacitor, against a traditional electrolyte. With areal capacitances of 25.7 mF.cm−2 these electrolytes have been shown to be competitive with more traditional systems and with further refinement, could provide safe and abundant electrolytes for wearable applications.

Keywords

• Wearable technology
• Energy storage
• Supercapacitors
• Electrolytes