Low cost, green and effective preparation of multifunctional flexible silk fabric electrode with ultra-high capacitance retention

The development of eco-friendly reduced graphene oxide (RGO) fabric electrodes with high performance and low cost has attracted much attention. Here, a highly conductive RGO silk fabric for supercapacitors and sensors was prepared by pretreating silk fabric with ternary solvent (CaCl2/C2H5OH/H2O) and then followed by ultrasound-assisted cycle drying. Instead of using crosslinking agent, the method is eco-friendly and it can increase the load of active substance, fabricating the high-performance RGO silk fabric electrode with lower cost. The effects of different treatment methods and treatment times on the morphology and properties of the electrodes were investigated. The area capacitance can be increased by 988.31%, 375.86% and 175.76% respectively by different ways of cyclic drying, ultrasonic treatment and ternary solvent pretreatment. The electrode prepared by this method has excellent conductivity and capacitance. Impressively, it has ultrahigh capacitance retention of 148% at 10000 charge-discharge cycles and excellent electrochemical stability. Meanwhile, it also has deformation response and excellent ultraviolet performance (UPF = 2182.63). This fabricated RGO silk fabric can be used as a sensor to monitor human motion (excellent mechanical stability), and it has a great potential for application in the field of wearable electronic products. [Display omitted] •High performance RGO fabric without crosslinking agent was designed.•The effect of preparation method on RGO fabric electrode was discussed.•RGO fabric electrode has good area capacitance and ultra-high capacitance retention.•RGO fabric electrode has an ultra-high UV resistance (UPF = 2182.63).•RGO fabric electrode can be used as a flexible sensor to monitor human behavior.