Kristy Jost

Carbon coated textiles for flexible energy storage

This paper describes a flexible and lightweight fabric supercapacitor electrode as a possible energy source in smart garments. We examined the electrochemical behavior of porous carbon materials impregnated into woven cotton and polyester fabrics using a traditional printmaking technique (screen printing). The porous structure of such fabrics makes them attractive for supercapacitor applications that need porous films for ion transfer between electrodes. We used cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic cycling and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to study the capacitive behaviour of carbon materials using nontoxic aqueous electrolytes including sodium sulfate and lithium sulfate. Electrodes coated with activated carbon (YP17) and tested at ∼0.25 A·g−1 achieved a high gravimetric and areal capacitance, an average of 85 F·g−1 on cotton lawn and polyester microfiber, both corresponding to ∼0.43 F·cm−2.

Knitted and screen printed carbon-fiber supercapacitors for applications in wearable electronics

The field of energy textiles is growing but continues to face two main challenges: (1) flexible energy storage does not yet exist in a form that is directly comparable with everyday fabrics including their feel, drape and thickness, and (2) in order to produce an “energy textile” as part of a garment, it must be fabricated in a systematic manner allowing for multiple components of e-textiles to be integrated simultaneously. To help address these issues, we have developed textile supercapacitors based on knitted carbon fibers and activated carbon ink. We show capacitances as high as 0.51 F cm−2 per device at 10 mV s−1, which is directly comparable with those of standard activated carbon film electrodes tested under the same conditions. We also demonstrate the performance of the device when bent at 90°, 135°, 180° and when stretched. This is the first report on knitting as a fabrication technique for integrated energy storage devices.

Textile energy storage in perspective

Research on flexible and wearable electronics has been gaining momentum in recent years, ranging in use from medical to military and everyday consumer applications. Yet to date, textile electronics still lack integrated energy storage solutions. This paper provides an overview and perspective on the field of textile energy storage with a specific emphasis on devices made from textiles or made as a fabric themselves. While other types of flexible energy storage devices are discussed, the focus is on coated, fibre, woven as well as knitted supercapacitors and batteries.

Onion-like carbon and carbon nanotube film antennas

In this paper, radiating dipole antennas have been fabricated from rolled carbon films, which are typically used for supercapacitor electrodes. Return loss and radiation pattern measurements for onion-like carbon (OLC) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) antenna samples are presented and compared to a copper standard. The OLC antennas radiation pattern measurements show a peak gain of −1.48 dBi, just less than 3 dB of a copper dipole antenna. Compared to antennas made from MWCNT films, the OLC samples show better radiation performance despite a lower measured conductivity.