Structural supercapacitor constructed by SnO2/graphene coated nickel foam electrode and synchronously synthesized polymer cement electrolyte at room temperature

Abstract

The design of high comprehensive properties structural supercapacitors requires advanced electrode materials with suitable porous structure for ion diffusion, as well as unique solid electrolyte owning excellent mechanical property under high-pressure compression. Herein, we presented a novel structural supercapacitor cell constructed by graphene-coated nickel foam decorated with SnO2 electrode and PAM–Portland cement electrolyte. It was found that the RGO/SnO2-1 electrode displays superior electrochemical performance with the highest areal capacitance of 0.374 F cm−2 at the current density of 1 mA cm−2, good cycle stability, and capacitance retention rate can reach 80.4% after 1000 cycles. Polymer-inorganic cement electrolyte was prepared by synchronous reaction at room temperature. The resulting structural supercapacitor cell showed relatively high electrochemical and mechanical properties. The areal capacitance was as high as 61.0 mF cm−2 at the current density of 0.1 mA cm−2. The excellent electrochemical performance combined with high mechanical comprehensive properties makes it a promising candidate in civil engineering applications.