Biopolymer-chitosan based supramolecular hydrogels as solid state electrolytes for electrochemical energy storage

Abstract

A biopolymer-chitosan based Supramolecular Hydrogel type solid state Electrolyte (SHE) is prepared via a simple and fast cross-linking between chitosan and Li⁺/Ag⁺. The obtained SHE itself shows high thermal stability and excellent flexible and mouldable properties. When integrated in an asymmetric supercapacitor with MnO₂ as the positive electrode and active carbon as the negative electrode, it can survive more than 10 000 cycles with the areal capacity of 10 mF cm^-2 at the 1.8 mA cm^-2 current density.