Fabrication of an arbitrary-shaped and nitrogen-doped graphene aerogel for highly compressible all solid-state supercapacitors

Herein, we report a new template method for fabricating an arbitrary-shaped compressible nitrogen-doped graphene aerogel (GA). The as-prepared GA remains stable under a maximum compressive strain of 90% or after 50 compression/release cycles at a strain of 80%. The compressible nitrogen-doped GA is used as an electrode to fabricate an all solid-state graphene aerogel supercapacitor (GASC). The as-assembled GASC shows a specific capacitance of 150 F g(-1) at a current density of 0.3 A g(-1) and a long cycle life with 85.1% capacitance retention after 10 000 cycles at 1 A g(-1). In addition, the compressible GASC displays stable electrochemical performance under different compressive strains (0%, 25%, 50% and 75%) or after 100 compression/release cycles under a compressive strain of 50%. The present work highlights the first example of fabricating an arbitrary-shaped compressible GA. Furthermore, the as-obtained GASC overcomes the limitation of previous work which required the assistance of other materials to maintain the mechanical properties. This simple template method for the fabrication of compressible and robust GA electrodes could have enormous potential for high performance compressible energy storage devices.