Published February 9, 2022 | Version Uncorrected proof
Journal article Open

Two-dimensional vanadium sulfide flexible graphite/polymer films for near-infrared photoelectrocatalysis and electrochemical energy storage

Creators

  • 1. Future Energy and Innovation Laboratory Central European Institute of Technology Brno University of Technology Purkyňova 123, Brno 61200, Czech Republic
  • 2. Center for Advanced Functional Nanorobots, Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, 16628 Prague, Czech Republic
  • 3. a) Future Energy and Innovation Laboratory, Central European Institute of Technology, Brno University of Technology, Purkyˇnova 123, 61200 Brno, Czech Republic, b) Center for Advanced Functional Nanorobots, Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, 16628 Prague, Czech Republic, c) Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, No. 91 Hsueh-Shih Road, 40402 Taichung, Taiwan, d) Energy Research Institute@NTU (ERI@N), Research Techno Plaza, X-Frontier Block, Level 5, 50 Nanyang Drive, 637553, Singapore

Description

Modern wearable electronics require scalable, flexible, and conductive electrodes with tunable properties.
Abundant materials such as graphite as a conductive component and polymer as a flexible component forming a
composite film (electrode) via simple synthesis technique are particularly captivating. This approach conveniently
satisfies the fundamental needs of an ideal electrode yet provides a conductive platform to accommodate
a secondary material for various purposes in electrochemical energy conversion and storage. Accordingly, we
optimize a graphite-polymer composite film with good conductivity and flexibility to incorporate two-dimensional
(2D) VSx (mixed phase predominated by V5S8) as an active material within the film. We exemplify
the dual functionalities of the VSx/graphite flexible electrode as i) a photo-electrocatalyst for enhanced
hydrogen evolution reaction by visible and near-infrared light irradiation (overpotential ≈500 mV at the current
density of -10 mA cm-2), and ii) a conductive electrode for symmetrical solid-state supercapacitor with pseudocapacitive
charge storage mechanism (areal capacitance of 123 mF cm-2 and areal capacity of 34 μAh cm-2 at
the current density of 0.5 mA cm-2). Our work demonstrates the versatility of graphite films in terms of size,
shape, flexibility, and scalability, with tunable physical, optical, and electrical properties by integrating other
secondary materials. We combine flexible graphite film and 2D vanadium sulfide with near-infrared photoresponse
and pseudocapacitive properties, as an economically feasible avenue for energy harvesting, outer space
application, and wearable devices.

Notes

Martin Pumera acknowledges the financial support by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (19-26896X). Jan Vyskocil was supported by the project Advanced Functional Nanorobots (reg. No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_003/0000444 financed by the EFRR). Siowwooon Ng and Kalyan Ghosh thank CzechNanoLab project LM2018110 funded by MEYS CR for material characterizations at CEITEC Nano Research Infrastructure.

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Supporting Information_Two-dimensional vanadium sulfide flexible graphitepolymer films_CEJ_135131.pdf

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Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1016/j.cej.2022.135131

Funding

European Commission
MotionESt - Motion Powered 3D Printed Self-Healable Energy Storage for Wearable Electronics utilizing Plastic Waste 894457