Super Powered Clothes in Our Future: The ‘Candy Cane’ Polymer Weave

So, Smoukov and Wang developed a more robust material by weaving together a conducting polymer with an ion-storage polymer. The two polymers were stitched together to form a candy cane-like geometry, with one polymer playing the role of the white stripe and the other, red. While PEDOT conducts electricity, the other polymer, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), can store ions. The interwoven geometry is instrumental to the energy storage benefits, Wang says, because it allows the ions to access more of the material overall, approaching the “theoretical limit.”

When tested, the candy cane supercapacitor demonstrated improvements over PEDOT alone with regard to flexibility and cycling stability. It also had nearly double the specific capacitance compared to conventional PEDOT-based supercapacitors.

Still, there’s room for improvement, Smoukov says. “In future experiments, we will be substituting polyaniline for PEDOT to increase the capacitance,” he says. “Polyaniline, because it can store more charge per unit of mass, could potentially store three times as much electricity as PEDOT for a given weight.” That means lighter batteries with the same energy storage can be charged faster, which is an important consideration in the development of novel wearables, robots and other devices.

Smoukov acknowledges funding from the European Research Council. Wang thanks the China Scholarship Council for funding and the U.K. Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensor Technologies and Applications of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for support.

The researchers presented their work at the 255th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS, the world’s largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features more than 13,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

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