Electrohydrodynamic 3D printing of orderly carbon/nickel composite network as supercapacitor electrodes

Electrohydrodynamic(EHD)3D printing of carbon-based materials in the form of orderly networks can have various applications.In this work,microscale carbon/nickel(C-Ni)composite electrodes with con-trolled porosity have been utilized in electrochemical energy storage of supercapacitors.Polyacrylonitrile(PAN)was chosen as the basic material for its excellent carbonization performance and EHD print-ing property.Nickel nitrate(Ni(NO3)2)was incorporated to form Ni nanoparticles which can improve the conductivity and the capacitance performance of the electrode.Well-aligned PAN-Ni(NO3)2 com-posite structures have been fabricated and carbonized as C-Ni electrodes with the typical diameter of 9.2±2.1 μm.The porosity of the as-prepared C-Ni electrode can be controlled during the EHD process.Electrochemical results show the C-Ni network electrode has achieved a 2.3 times higher areal specific capacitance and 1.7 times higher mass specific capacitance than those of a spin-coated electrode.As such,this process offers a facile and scalable strategy for the fabrication of orderly carbon-based conductive structures for various applications such as energy storage devices and printable electronics.