Facile fabrication of flexible all solid-state micro-supercapacitor by direct laser writing of porous carbon in polyimide

We demonstrate the fabrication of flexible micro-supercapacitors based on laser carbonization of polyimide sheets. Localized pulsed laser irradiation rapidly converts the pristine polyimide surface into an electrically conductive porous carbon structure in ambient conditions. Thus, the polyimide sheet acts as both a precursor for the carbonization and a flexible substrate. Effects of various laser parameters are examined to enhance electrical properties and morphology of the carbonized structures. The interdigitated electrode patterns are produced directly on the polyimide sheets by programmed laser scanning. A solid-state polyvinyl alcohol–phosphoric acid gel electrolyte is introduced into the active electrode area to realize a flexible all solid-state microcapacitor assembly. Cyclic voltammetry measurements exhibit the expected electrical double layer behavior. The specific capacitance of the supercapacitors reaches ∼800 μF/cm2 at a voltage scan rate of 10 mV/s with good capacitance retention under mechanical bending. The proposed laser-based approach enables facile fabrication of flexible micro-supercapacitors without tedious photolithographic patterning of porous carbon and metal current collectors.