Stretchable and self-healable PVA–Nickel–Borax electrodes for supercapacitor applications

In this study, a self-healing and stretchable PVA–nickel–borax (PNB) material for supercapacitor applications is presented. The PNB solid-flexible samples were fabricated by chemical composition method and characterized with different techniques to investigate their supercapacitor potential. In order to characterize structural properties of PNB samples, SEM, XRD and Raman techniques were utilized. For the capacitive properties, however, CV analysis was performed. The result of the CV analysis and the calculations showed that a charge and discharge capacitances as high as 88.95 F/g (49.42 Wh/kg energy density and 18.75 kW/kg a power density) and 33.75 F/g (35.58 Wh/kg energy density and 13.50 power density kW/kg), respectively, can be obtained for nickel based PVA-Borax polymers. In addition to their high capacitance, PNB capacitors were also shown to be flexible and self-healable in this study. Therefore, it is believed that this study will be an important reference for future flexible and self-healable supercapacitors.