Electric double layer capacitors prepared with polyvinyl alcohol and multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Portable electronics, wearables, electric vehicles and solar cells are sectors in increasingly development which include innovation and miniaturization of the devices. In this scenario, the development of smaller and lightweight energy storage devices, which store more energy, is required. Besides, it is desirable for these devices to be environmentally friendly to minimize pollution. In an attempt to meet these requirements, this work purposes the development and the characterization of nanofibers-based electrode composed of Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) for electric double layer capacitors (ELCDs) devices with aqueous electrolyte. This composite has been prepared by electrospinning technique and consolidate an electrical conductive and high-surface material electrode. After that, the PVA/MWCNT electrode was assembled in coin cell device with Sodium Sulfate (Na₂SO₄) electrolyte for electrochemical characterization. The characterization results showed that EDLCs devices present specific capacitance of ∼4.8 Fg^-1, energy density of ∼0.1 Wh kg^-1, power density of ∼600W kg^-, fast charge transfer at electrode/electrolyte interface and high lifetime All these results encourage further development on PVA/MWCNT materials as electrode for EDLCs and Li-Air batteries devices. This new generation of devices are opening niches of applications on multi billionaire markets from communication to transport.