Flexible, biodegradable, and biocompatible supercapacitors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10655024-B2
Application number	US-201816000948-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 6, 2018
Priority date	Jun 9, 2017
Publication date	May 19, 2020
Grant date	May 19, 2020

Abstract

Provided herein is biodegradable supercapacitor system comprising a protein based flexible thin film substrate, patterned electrodes formed from a biocompatible conductive ink, and biocompatible gel electrolyte. Methods of making the supercapacitor system are also provided.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A supercapacitor, comprising
a flexible protein substrate,
at least two electrodes comprising a biocompatible conductive ink patterned on the flexible protein substrate, and
a biocompatible gel electrolyte connecting the at least two electrodes,
wherein each of the flexible protein substrate, the at least two electrodes, and the gel electrolyte are biodegradable.

2. The supercapacitor of claim 1 , wherein the flexible protein substrate is a silk protein substrate.

3. The supercapacitor of claim 2 , wherein the silk protein substrate is fabricated from at least one of fibroin and sericin proteins.

4. The supercapacitor of claim 1 , wherein the biocompatible gel electrolyte is NaCl-agarose.

5. The supercapacitor of claim 1 , wherein the biocompatible conductive ink comprises sericin protein photoresist (SPP) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS).

6. The supercapacitor of claim 1 , wherein the conductive ink is dosed with reduced graphene oxide (rGO).

7. The supercapacitor of claim 1 , wherein patterning of said biocompatible conductive ink is performed using photolithography.

8. The supercapacitor of claim 1 , wherein each of the flexible protein substrate, the at least two electrodes, and the gel electrolyte are configured to be biologically disintegrated within one month.

9. The supercapacitor of claim 1 , wherein the flexible substrate has a Young's modulus of less than or equal to 2 MPa.

10. A biocompatible conductive ink comprising SPP, PEDOT:PSS, and rGO.

11. The biocompatible conductive ink of claim 10 , wherein the concentration of PEDOT:PSS is 15-20 w/w %.

12. A method for fabricating a biodegradable supercapacitor, comprising the steps of:
patterning electrodes on a flexible protein substrate with a biocompatible conductive ink, and
interconnecting the electrodes with a biocompatible gel electrolyte.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the flexible protein substrate is a silk protein substrate.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the silk protein substrate is fabricated from at least one of fibroin and sericin proteins.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the conductive ink comprises SPP and PEDOT:PSS.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the conductive ink is dosed with rGO in the forming step.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the biocompatible gel electrolyte is NaCl-agarose.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein said patterning step is performed using photolithography.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein said method is a water-based process carried out at room temperature.

20. The method of claim 12 , further comprising a step of preparing the flexible protein substrate.

21. The method of claim 12 , further comprising a step of forming the biocompatible conductive ink.

Assignees

• Univ Virginia Commonwealth

Inventors

• Yadavalli Vamsi K
• Pal Ramendra K

Classifications

• C09D11/037

  characterised by the pigment · CPC title

• H01G11/26

  characterised by their structure, e.g. multi-layered, porosity or surface features · CPC title

• G03F7/2002

  with visible light or UV light, through an original having an opaque pattern on a transparent support, e.g. film printing, projection printing; by reflection of visible or UV light from an original such as a printed image · CPC title

• G03F7/038

  Macromolecular compounds which are rendered insoluble or differentially wettable (G03F7/075 takes precedence; macromolecular azides G03F7/012; macromolecular diazonium compounds G03F7/021) · CPC title

• H01G11/56

  Solid electrolytes, e.g. gels; Additives therein · CPC title