3D Cu(OH)2 nanowires/carbon cloth for flexible supercapacitors with outstanding cycle stability

The lack of flexibility of the substrates and the readily shed off of the active materials during the deformation process limit applications of wearable electronic devices. An effective approach is to design an electrode with both high flexibility and stability, which ensure that the device will not be affected in practical applications. In this paper, we design 3D Cu(OH)(2) nanowires directly grown on carbon fiber cloth by a quasi-stable electroless Cu deposition and a rapid alkali assistant oxidation process. The Cu-electroless plating ensures high conductivity and excellent binding force between the active material and the substrate, which issued in low internal resistance and remarkable cycle stability. Moreover, the flexible all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor (FASSASC) assembled with the Cu(OH)(2)/CPCC (Cu-plated carbon cloth) as positive pole, possess high areal capacitances (242.5 mF cm(-2) at 1 mA cm(-2)), relatively large energy and power density (4.9 x 10(-2) mWh cm(-2), 0.6 mWcm(-2) respectively), with outstanding cycling stability and flexibility (90.5% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles under bending). Remarkably, we also assembled a self-charging power pack integrated of flexible all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitors (FASSASCs) and commercial solar cells, which can capture energy from the sun, and then store it to furnish a durative and stable electrical output. Such a device could be powered by the self-charging function without time and location limit. These superior characteristics demonstrate that the Cu(OH)(2)/CPCC//AC/CC FASSASC a good candidate for next-generation flexible, wearable and portable electronic devices.