MnO2 has always been regarded as an ideal material for the electrodes of energy storage devices. A research team at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed a novel approach to synthesize aqueous MnO2 ink to coat various substrates, e.g. conductive paper, plastic and glass, for the production of light, thin, transparent and flexible energy storage devices. The MnO2 ink coating on the substrates can be easily erased if required, facilitating the fabrication of electronic devices.
The capacity of the MnO2 ink capacitor is over 30 times higher than that of a commercial capacitor made of active materials of the same weight (e.g. carbon powder), demonstrating the great potential of MnO2 ink in significantly enhancing the performance of energy storage devices.
Special Features and Advantages
• Highly homogeneous and long term stability in water without any additives
• Low production cost and simple process
• Could be printed on different substrates to form continuous thin films, including paper, glass, plastic or stainless steel, etc.
• Could be etched easily
• The as-coated MnO2 thin films exhibit excellent electrochemical capacitive performances
Applications
• Energy sources for active radio frequency identification (RFID) system
• Integration with photovoltaic devices
• Energy sources for flexible and portable device
Awards
• Silver Prize - Seoul International Invention Fair 2015, Korea (Nov 2015)
• Special Merit Award from The National Research Council of Thailand (Nov 2015)
Principal Investigator
Dr Jikang Yuan
Department of Applied Physics
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Contact Details
Institute for Entrepreneurship
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Tel: (852) 3400 2929
Fax: (852) 2333 2410
Email: [email protected]