All-solid-state flexible supercapacitors by fast laser annealing of printed metal nanoparticle layers

A flexible all-solid-state supercapacitor was demonstrated with a flexible Ag nanoparticle current collector which is prepared by a roll-to-roll (R2R) gravure printing process combined with a fast, low temperature laser annealing process. The laser annealing could yield good electrical conductivity of the printed Ag nanoparticle (NP) very rapidly without any noticeable polymer substrate damage and with outstanding adhesion to the underlying polymer substrate which is essential for the fabrication of stable energy devices. The laser annealed Ag NP films are subsequently sandwiched with a carbon slurry and a polymer layer as the active material and the electrolyte to assemble flexible all solid-state supercapacitors that can be bent up to 135° without any severe decrease of the electrochemical performance. By combining the proposed laser process with the existing R2R system, we expect that the printing process for flexible electronic devices could be greatly improved in terms of processing time and space.